Mother of baby hospitalized with RSV shares story

GREENSBORO, NC (WGHP) – Health experts are warning that respiratory syncytial virus, commonly known as RSV, is spreading rapidly across the United States, overwhelming numerous children’s hospitals.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, RSV is primarily associated with inflamed or infected airways in the lungs of children under the age of one.

“What’s a cold to us can potentially be fatal to a baby,” said Allison Blocker, mother of a North Carolina baby who was diagnosed with RSV.

Blocker’s eight-week-old Ava was hospitalized for more than a week, intubated and put on a ventilator to fight the virus.

“It’s something no parent ever wants to see,” she said. “No parent should ever have to see.”

Blocker didn’t think much at first when her daughter developed a cough and runny nose on Oct. 12. She took her to the pediatrician.

“I never thought we’d end up in the hospital,” Blocker said. “The nurse took one look at her and immediately called an ambulance.”

Doctors quickly diagnosed her baby with RSV. Within a few days of showing symptoms, she began wheezing and had trouble breathing.

Blocker told FOX8 that doctors put her baby on a high flow of oxygen within 24 hours of being admitted to the hospital.

After a few days, their daughter was put on a ventilator on October 16.

“Seeing my kid on it just breaks your heart,” she said. “It makes you feel … like you’re losing the ability to breathe because your baby can’t breathe.”

The 8-week-old was intubated for two and a half days while her small body fought the virus.

Blocker said her baby had a “mucous plug” in her lungs that caused her to collapse. She was stuck with multiple IVs.

“You can’t help but go to that place, you can’t help but go, ‘I’m going to lose my baby,’ I’ve just had eight weeks with my baby, I’m going to lose my baby,” Blocker said. “It was something that can be prevented by wearing masks, can be prevented by not sending your child to school sick where they will abandon another family because it’s spreading like wildfire.”

Blocker was right by her baby’s side while he was treated in the pediatric intensive care unit at Moses Cone Hospital.

“Knowing that she couldn’t move much on her own,” she said. “I couldn’t hold her; I could barely touch her.”

Moses Cone Children’s Unit medical director, Doctor Suresh Nagappan, told Nexstars WGHP that there is a backlog of patients at the children’s unit, most of them under the age of 2 years old.

“We’re looking at probably the worst RSV year I’ve seen in my career,” he said.

Nagappan saw RSV spread earlier in the year. He said his young patients had been getting sicker for longer.

“We’re really only supporting them until the virus gets better, and unfortunately there’s no magical medicine that will make them better right away,” Nagappan said.

Blocker’s daughter was one of the lucky ones as she is doing better after being hospitalized for nine days.

“I didn’t realize how blessed we were and how lucky we were to be able to make it home,” she said. “It wasn’t anything I ever imagined having this baby that I ever had to deal with.”

North Carolina Department of Health officials are reporting an increased number of RSV cases compared to the same times in previous years.

Most children experience a mild case when infected with RSV, according to the CDC. Symptoms of RSV usually develop within four to six days of exposure.

Parents should look out for these symptoms in their children:

• Runny nose
• decrease in appetite
• Cough
• Sneeze
• Fever
• gasping

“If your baby or child starts breathing really harder or faster, or just doesn’t want to eat or drink anything at all, and you’re concerned about becoming dehydrated, it’s time to really go to the pediatrician or the emergency room, depending on the severity of things.” said Nagappan.

Health officials are encouraging what people have been learning during the pandemic to prevent the spread of a virus, including washing hands, using hand sanitizer, wearing a mask and social distancing.