Alicea’s head was bopping, her ribs would contract and her nostrils were flaring. That’s how her parents knew that their baby daughter had something more severe than the common cold.
In a Facebook post that’s being circulated by parents around the world, Jenna Kuntz shared pictures and video clips of Alicea’s symptoms that pointed to RSV, respiratory syncytial virus.
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Kuntz’ cautionary tale is timely as the common cold and seasonal flu make their rounds. RSV is similar to other respiratory infections but in some cases, it can lead to serious complications and even hospitalization.
“I just wanted to share these signs with you guys. We were blessed to realize what was happening early, before it got really bad,” Kuntz shared in her post.
“You want to look for wheezing, pale skin, lacing skin, lips blue or pale, sucking in under ribs, nostrils flaring, throat sinking in, shoulders moving up and down and head bobbing,” she warned.
Her post has been shared more than 66,000 times with more nearly 6,000 comments pouring in.
Kuntz initially thought her weeks-old baby was just battling a cold but her maternal instincts kicked in when she saw her daughter’s nostrils flaring, she told CBS News.
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She looked at Alicea’s chest and noticed her ribs were contracting. That’s when she rushed her baby to the hospital emergency room where she was airlifted to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
The Kuntz family is glad they figured out that something was wrong early on. Alicea spent two days in hospital and was sent home.
RSV is common, very contagious and infects the respiratory tract of most kids before their second birthday. For most children, the infection isn’t more than a cold. But for a small group, RSV can lead to bronchiolitis, which is an inflammation of the lungs, or even pneumonia, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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The chance of severe infection is greatest for babies born prematurely, kids under two born with heart or lung disease and kids with weakened immune systems.
More symptoms to pay attention to include: trouble breathing, cough producing a yellow, green or gray mucus, unusually upset or inactive, and signs of dehydration, such as a lack of tears when crying or little to no urine in the diaper.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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