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Should You Immunize Your Baby Against RSV and Other Respiratory Illnesses

As a parent, one of the most important decisions you will make for your child is whether or not to immunize them against various diseases and illnesses. This decision can be particularly difficult when it comes to respiratory illnesses, such as RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and coronavirus. On one hand, immunizations can provide vital protection against serious and potentially life-threatening diseases. On the other hand, some people have concerns about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, and may be hesitant to expose their newborn babies to them. In this blog post, we will explore the pros and cons of immunizing newborn babies against RSV and other respiratory illnesses, to help you make an informed decision for your own family.

What is RSV and why is it important to immunize against it?

RSV is a highly contagious respiratory virus that is common in children, but can also affect adults. It causes symptoms similar to the common cold, such as runny nose, cough, and fever, but can also lead to more serious complications, particularly in young children and babies. These complications can include bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lungs) and pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs).

Babies are at particularly high risk for RSV, as their immune systems are not fully developed and they are more prone to respiratory infections. In severe cases, RSV can lead to hospitalization and even death, although this is rare. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), RSV is the leading cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children under the age of 1.

There is no cure for RSV, so the best way to protect your newborn baby against the virus is through immunization. There is a vaccine available to prevent RSV, called the palivizumab vaccine. It is typically given as a monthly injection to high-risk babies during the RSV season (typically November to April in the United States). The vaccine is not recommended for all babies, but rather for those who are at particularly high risk for severe RSV disease, such as premature infants, babies with underlying health conditions, and those with a history of RSV in the family.

What are the potential benefits of immunizing newborn babies against RSV?

There are several potential benefits to immunizing newborn babies against RSV:

Protection against serious illness: As mentioned above, RSV can lead to serious and potentially life-threatening complications in young children and babies. By immunizing your newborn baby against RSV, you can help protect them from these complications and reduce their risk of hospitalization.
Prevention of RSV outbreaks: In addition to protecting individual children, immunizing against RSV can also help prevent outbreaks of the virus within a community. When a large percentage of the population is immunized against a disease, it becomes much more difficult for the disease to spread, as there are fewer people who are susceptible to infection. This is known as herd immunity, and it can help protect those who are unable to receive vaccines due to underlying health conditions.
Cost savings: While the cost of the palivizumab vaccine may seem high, it is generally much less expensive than the cost of treating RSV complications. Hospitalizations and other medical interventions can add up quickly, and immunizing your newborn baby against RSV can help reduce these costs.

What are the potential risks of immunizing newborn babies against RSV?

Like any vaccine, there are potential risks and side effects associated with immunizing newborn babies against RSV. These include:

Injection site including soreness, redness or swelling.
Allergic reaction and/or a rash.

As with any vaccination, you should always consult a physician before vaccinating your child against any respiratory illnesses, including RSV, Covid 19 and bronchitis.

Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash

Study Suggests Long Terms Health of Babies Affected by Covid 19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on many people in a variety of ways, even babies. For babies born during the Covid19 pandemic, a JAMA study suggests, the log-term health problems has the potential to be lifelong.

The first three years of life are crucial for brain development in humans. But it’s not just the health of babies that it affected, but the interactions between babies, parents and other would be caregivers. Babies need to be touched, spoken to, swaddled, smiled at, played with, stimulated and loved. As they respond to those interactions, neural connections are constructed in the brain. Without those interactions, an infant's brain doesn’t develop and grow as it should.

A stressed out or depressed parent or caregiver may find it hard to find the time and energy required to give the child's brain the love, stimulation and attention it needs to develop. There are many studies showing that poverty, maternal depression and other factors can change the development of a child's brain forever.

Methodology

As part of an ongoing study of babies and their mothers, researchers from Columbia University studied the development of three groups of 6-month-old infants. Two of the groups were born during the COVID-19 pandemic; the mothers of one group had COVID-19, while the mothers of the other did not. The third group was a historical cohort (a group of babies who were born before the pandemic).

Mothers participating in the study used an Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) to record their babies’ development and evolution. The researchers noted no difference in the development of the two groups of babies born during the pandemic, suggesting that prenatal exposure to COVID-19 doesn’t affect development, which is good news. But babies born during the pandemic scored lower in gross motor, fine motor, and social-emotional development than the babies born before the pandemic. Examples of developmental tasks for babies in this age group are rolling from back to tummy (gross motor), reaching for or grasping a toy with both hands (fine motor), and acting differently to strangers than to parents or familiar people (social-emotional development).

Infant Development during COVID

It’s just one study, and we need to do more research to better understand this, but the findings are not really surprising given what we know about infant development. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of stress — emotional, financial, and otherwise — for so many families. It has also markedly affected the number and kind of interactions we have with other people. Babies are on average interacting with fewer people (and seeing fewer faces because of masking) than they did before the pandemic.

Even though we need to do more research, this study should serve as a warning for us as a society. The children of this pandemic will carry scars forever if we don’t intervene now. We’ve already seen the emotional and educational effects on children, and we need to be aware of the developmental effects on babies too. The stakes are too high to ignore the research.

What Can be Done?

We need to find ways to financially and emotionally support families with young children. We need to be diligent, energetic and creative, and work every angle available. And even if our government can't help out enough and play a role, our communities and individuals must take up the slack.

And parents and caregivers of infants and toddlers need to know about this research — and ask for help. It’s understandable and natural for parents to think that babies are too small and unaware to be affected by the pandemic. But they are affected, in ways that could be long-lasting. Talk to your doctor about what you can do to help yourself, your family, and your baby’s future.

Photo by Filip Mroz on Unsplash