COVID vaccine and seasonal influenza vaccine, so we can try to keep those illnesses away and minimize the risk of getting at least a few infections this winter,” Lockwood shares.
Teaching your child good hand hygiene can also help them avoid a case of RSV, she adds.
“I’m a parent and I don’t know if you’ve ever watched your child wash their hands, but they often are not doing what we recommend, which is a full 20 seconds and getting into all of the nooks and crannies between their fingers and on their wrists,” Lockwood says. “I try to reinforce washing hands before eating and after using the bathroom or any time that they feel like their hands are dirty. Particularly if they’re coughing or sneezing, they should be cleaning their hands afterwards.”
Kids can also help prevent spread to other children by covering their cough or sneeze. You should also keep a child with a cough or fever home from school until they are well, to protect their classmates, Lockwood advises.
Dr. Sarah Ash Combs, an emergency medicine physician at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., points out that even though COVID-19 restrictions have relaxed, you should consider continuing to mask and socially distance if you have a high-risk child.
“I would say if you’re a parent or a caregiver and you’re worried about a child or a baby in your home, I do think it makes sense for you to mask, certainly when you’re out in a public space,” Combs says.
Children at high risk for a severe RSV infection do have a monoclonal antibody treatment available to them, Combs notes.
The catch is that the drug, palivizumab, must be given before RSV season begins, because it can’t be used to treat an active infection, Combs shares.
“It’s given in a series, so you have to go in for a few doses,” Combs adds. “Ideally, you actually want to have already started that. Most people with a child in their life who is in that category will have started even over the summer to be getting those doses.”
With RSV raging across the United States, what is the advice for the holidays if you have a high-risk child?
“The temptation is, ‘Oh, it’s finally going to be a holiday we can all spend together. There’s going to be a big 100-person family reunion in an indoor space in the middle of December,'” Combs says. “You have to look at that as a family and decide if the risk/benefit is worth it, because I would say that’s probably a high risk for transmission of any viral illness. So, if you have a young, vulnerable child or infant at home, you might want to skip that event and instead do something on a smaller scale, do something with a smaller number of family members, do something virtual.”
Caring for a child with RSV at home
The most important thing when taking care of a child sick with RSV is to keep them well-hydrated, Lockwood says.
“Dehydration is one of the reasons that they end up going to the hospital often, so any way you can, get fluids into your child,” Lockwood adds. “I always say this is a time to bribe them with things that pediatricians don’t usually like, which include sugary beverages like juice or ice pops. Any way that you can get them to take little sips of fluid.”
Steam also can help loosen up a young child’s airways, Lockwood shares.
“I love steam. Running a hot shower and doing your nighttime routine in that steamy bathroom air can help break up some of that mucus and loosen a cough,” she says. “A cough that actually sounds a little bit more wet and loose can be a good thing as they start moving some of that mucus up and out.”
For more on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.