The ABC's of RSV

It's been almost five weeks since we started this blog and we've had more than 5,500 hits! We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support we've received and we cannot wait until Gabrielle and Alaina can meet all of the wonderful people who have been following their progress. Which brings us to a very important topic -- RSV.

Most people have not heard of RSV, which stands for respiratory syncytial virus, even though nearly every child has had it by age two. For full-term babies, RSV typically isn't any worse than a common cold, but for preemies, RSV is quite serious. Babies born earlier than 36 weeks are at the highest risk for serious complications from RSV such as pneumonia, bronchiolitis and other sometimes fatal complications. Gabrielle and Alaina were born premature, are multiples and had low birth weights and these are among the highest risk factors for contracting RSV.

Preventing the spread of RSV is very difficult, so although we want all of you to meet the girls, we're going to have to be extremely vigilant about keeping them safe during RSV season (October through April). The virus is spread through physical contact, in the air via a cough or sneeze, or by touching an infected object. It can live as long as six hours on hands and up to twelve hours on objects and it spreads very easily, especially from child to child. Studies have also shown that infants pose an even higher risk of spreading RSV to others. You may ask “Can’t they fight it off and build up their immune system? Kids need to get sick, right?” The simple answer is NO. Since our babies were pre-term, they did not acquire the necessary immunities to fight off infection. If they contract RSV, they could be hospitalized and develop one of the complications mentioned above.

In order to try to prevent Gabrielle and Alaina from getting RSV or any other illness, our doctors recommend that all visitors follow these guidelines when coming to see the girls between now and April:

1. When you arrive, please wash your hands and use hand-sanitizer before touching the babies.
2. If you can, please get a flu shot.
3. Please refrain from coming over if you are sick and have not been symptom-free for at least 5 days, if you live with someone who is sick, or have been in close contact with someone who is sick.
4. If you smoke, we ask that you change your clothing and refrain from smoking prior to visiting, as a preemie’s lungs are very sensitive to smoke. Most RSV sites recommend against passive smoke exposure.
5. If you are parents to a baby or toddler, please refrain from bringing them to our house during RSV season.

Please understand that this is not meant to offend anyone, but we wanted to provide an explanation as to why we'll be mega-germophobes once the babies come home.

And that concludes today's public service announcement. We'll now return to regular programming....