2007GuideToTheFirstYear
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You Are<br />
Not Alone<br />
CONNER AND COLIN, 1½ WEEKS<br />
Protecting<br />
Twinfants<br />
from RSV<br />
Discover for yourself the<br />
TwinsMagazine.com<br />
Parents of Multiples<br />
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of charge. As a new parent of multiples,<br />
the Message Board can help<br />
you cope with the unexpected, the<br />
unknown and the wonder of multiple<br />
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day of the year.<br />
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your everyday shopping needs.<br />
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SHARE LIFE<br />
The Magazine for Parents of Multiples<br />
© 2007, THE BUSINESS WORD, INC.<br />
Respiratory Synctial Virus (RSV) is one of<br />
the most troublesome viruses in the pediatric<br />
infectious disease world and especially<br />
dangerous for children under age<br />
2. Highly contagious, RSV poses a serious<br />
threat to twinfants, especially those born<br />
prematurely. They are at special risk for a<br />
more virulent course of the infection.<br />
RSV attacks a twinfant's respiratory system.<br />
It is easily transmitted on the hands of<br />
parents or caregivers who have touched<br />
anything containing the secretions of an<br />
infected person. It poses a serious problem<br />
for babies who go to daycare centers or are<br />
cared for at in-home facilities.<br />
RSV is called a hit-and-hide virus<br />
because it can survive for many months<br />
or even years in a person's body. It may<br />
cause long-term complications, such as<br />
lung damage. Long after symptoms have<br />
disappeared the virus can hide, waiting<br />
for an opportunity to re-emerge. The dormant<br />
nature of RSV could explain prolonged<br />
wheezing in children who have<br />
long-since “recovered” from RSV. This<br />
may explain fall/winter reappearance of<br />
outbreaks, too.<br />
RSV symptoms are generally mild—<br />
cough, clear runny nose, low grade fever, irritability,<br />
decreased appetite and head/chest<br />
congestion. In twinfants under 1, however,<br />
the virus can include high fevers, lethargy,<br />
significant wheezing, respiratory distress<br />
and a complete loss of appetite. In severe<br />
cases, twinfants may experience extreme<br />
lethargy, very rapid and heaving respiration,<br />
audible wheezing, and serious dehydration.<br />
Preemies who become very ill with<br />
RSV are often hospitalized, placed on oxygen,<br />
and given IV antibiotics and hydration<br />
for several days.<br />
Parents of twinfants have a new tool<br />
in the arsenal to deal with serious RSV,<br />
and that is a preventive drug called palivizumab,<br />
marketed as Synagis, which has<br />
helped reduce hospitalizations for serious<br />
RSV. Typically reserved for at-risk infants,<br />
the drug is administered ahead of time as a<br />
series of injections (usually five) throughout<br />
the fall and winter when RSV peaks.<br />
(Insurance usually pays for these shots,<br />
which can cost $1,000 each. The cost of<br />
one hospitalization can reach $70,000.)<br />
What do you do if you suspect your<br />
twinfant may have RSV? Trust your<br />
instincts. Look for these red flags: Baby<br />
refuses to eat/drink, looks pale, clearly<br />
struggles to breathe, breathes rapidly,<br />
wheezes, has high temperature difficult to<br />
control, shows signs of dehydration, is so<br />
lethargic you have trouble arousing him<br />
for feedings. Call your pediatrician immediately.<br />
Even gray-zone symptoms you are<br />
not sure about should be checked out with<br />
your doctor, especially if your child was<br />
born prematurely and is under 1.<br />
Most important message about RSV:<br />
Wash your hands...and make sure everyone<br />
who touches your babies washes their<br />
hands first.<br />
Protecting Multiples<br />
• During fall/winter, avoid exposing fragile<br />
twinfants & toddlers to anyone with a cold.<br />
Avoiding public places may be wise.<br />
• Wash your hands frequently, and insist that<br />
anyone who comes into your home do so.<br />
(Use regular—not antibacterial—soaps.)<br />
• Scrupulously clean surfaces at home.<br />
• Call physician if twinfant(s) has a cold that<br />
seems “out of the ordinary.”<br />
• Watch for wheezing, facial/lip/fingernail<br />
blueness, uncontrollable coughing, extreme<br />
lethargy.<br />
• Avoid taking fragile twinfants to stores/<br />
malls during their first RSV season.<br />
30 GUIDE TO THE FIRST YEAR © 2007 TWINS Magazine. To subscribe: call 1-888-55-TWINS or www.TwinsMagazine.com
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