Newborn baby hospitalized after contracting RSV, doctors warn of infection symptoms
BALTIMORE -- A Baltimore family got the scare of a lifetime when their baby was admitted to the emergency room for RSV.
First-time parents Lindsay Herbert and James Hamilton say they didn't know at first what was wrong with baby Magnolia because they didn't know what sign to look for.
Fortunately, their pediatrician noticed during a checkup that their baby couldn't breathe.
"I was completely shocked," Herbert said.
Magnolia was hospitalized with RSV at just 10 days old. She spent six days on oxygen in the emergency room.
"I had noticed the day before she had coughed a couple of times but I was a new mom and I guess I didn't think much of it, and I wasn't trying to be concerned," Hebert said.
For weeks, doctors all across the country, including in Maryland, have been treating an influx of RSV cases.
"This year, RSV and flu hit simultaneously, and the spike went like this, and so we didn't have any chance to flatten the curve. . . . So, we went from normal day to RSV everywhere," Eric Biondi, a doctor at Johns Hopkins, said.
Biondi is one of the doctors who treated Magnolia.
He says the best way to tell if a baby is infected is to watch their breathing.
"If you see really increased work of breathing where they're really not able to breathe normally anymore, that's when you want to look for help," Biondi said.
Magnolia was eventually able to beat the infection and go home with her parents.
"It's terrifying to have your baby not be able to breathe; it's the scariest thing ever," Hamilton said.
Although pediatric cases of RSV are trending downward, doctors say they are expecting another spike after the holidays.