RSV Symptoms in Babies & Vaccine Protection in Elizabethtown, KY

RSV is a respiratory virus that causes infections in everybody but can be much worse in newborn babies and in children under the age of two. Babies are more vulnerable to RSV just because they haven't seen a lot of viruses in their lifetime. We don't have really good treatments for RSV. There's no medicine that can cure the virus.

We have to let the virus run its course, and sometimes the virus can have such bad symptoms that the babies can't end up in the hospital on oxygen struggling to breathe. We have a new immunization for RSV that's available to all babies during their first year of life. It's actually given the antibodies to the baby instead of asking the baby's body to create antibodies against the virus and only lasts for about six months for the RSV season. There is a vaccine that is offered to moms during pregnancy.

As a physician, I always recommend this vaccine during that thirty two to thirty six week window during the RSV season, but as becoming a patient and a mom myself, I really wanted this vaccine to give my baby protection against this virus that affects so many young babies. I thought it was a better option for me to get it to go ahead and start his immunity versus him getting it after he was born.

We highly encourage everybody to talk to their pediatricians or their family medicine doctors about the new RSV vaccines for their children to see if this would be a good option for you and your family.