Uh Oh...RSV?

pookie2005

I'm jumping the gun a bit but apparently it's possible that DD's 13 mo old cousin has RSV (test results pending). They had some contact playing together for a few hours this past weekend. DD started having cold-like symptoms today. I'm going to keep a close eye on her knowing how contagious it is but I just wanted to see if anyone has had experience with this in an older child. DD is almost 5. 

AnnapolisLari

RSV is rarely dangerous in older kids and adults. It's most dangerous for infants and the elderly.

DD had it at 6 weeks old. DS was 2 and picked it up at her one month well baby visit and shared. He didn't have much more than a ghastly cold, I had a cold and DH didn't get anything. DD and my 74 year old mom just about coughed their lungs out and took 3-4 weeks to get better. To this day DD coughs HARD even when it's nothing, because of the sense memory of having to clear her lungs at such a young age.

EMT

If your DD is 5, she's probably already had RSV. RSV is often mistaken for a common cold. It is usually only dangerous in really young kids.

 

jettagurl

My twins had it last March.  They were both horrible - neb every 4 hrs for each of them.  My older two were 3 and almost 5 and neither had more than a cough, the oldest didn't miss any school, either. 

She should be fine, it may just seem like a cold.

 

penguingrrl

RSV can be really bad or it can be a cold. My girls had it when they were almost 2.5 and 5 months. The 2 year old ended up very sick, had recurrences frequently and ended up hospitalized three months after the initial virus and diagnosed with asthma secondary to RSV. The infant had a runny nose and nothing more. Had only the baby shown symptoms I would have assumed it was a cold and not known it was RSV, but she was with her sister at a follow up appointment and the NP swabbed her too and it was positive. She never had a fever, never wheezed and never had another symptom beyond a runny nose.

pookie2005

Thank you ladies, this makes me feel better. I'm sorry some of you had a bad time of it, sounds nasty.  

I will keep my eye on her and hopefully it'll just run it's course like a normal cold...IF that's what it is. 

Ciarrai

I'm fairly sure DD#2 had it and maybe DD#1.  Maybe neither did.  DS had it a few weeks ago but he was the third of mine to start coughing.  For him, it was like a bad cold/flu bug.  He did have a fever and he was very very lethargic, which scared me more than anything and is why I even took him in.  The pedi only tested him for RSV because if it wasn't RSV he would need a chest x-ray and such for pneumonia.  They don't do much for "older kids" (and even DS was considered an older kid) with RSV unless they're in distress.  If my girls had it, it was a cough and a bit of a runny nose.  They might have been a bit more tired than usual, but nothing I really noticed or worried about.  It's going around DS's preschool.  Of the 8 kids in his class, 4 or 5 had RSV.  None of them knew it was RSV until DS had it.  I called the school to let them know and the other parents had their kids tested.  One of the little boys in DS's class was sick a week before DS and his mom thought it was just allergies, but he was also really really tired.  She figures he had it too.  Just that time of year.

libra31

DD had RSV at 20 months and was very sick for a week although not hospitalized.  DS #2 had it at 3 weeks and was hospitalized for 12 days.  It was awful!  It hits some kids under 2 really hard.  At age 5 your DD has probably had it (not that she can't get it again) but it won't be more than a cold. 

From the RSV info center: 

What is RSV?
RSV stands for respiratory syncytial virus, the most frequent cause of serious respiratory tract infections in infants and children younger than 4 years of age. This is such a common virus that virtually all children have been infected by RSV by the age of 3. In most young children, it results in a mild respiratory infection that is not distinguishable from a common cold.