Now that we are in the month of November, we have arrived in cold and flu season. While we all need to take extra care to stay healthy during this season we need to take extra caution to keep babies healthy. One particular virus, Respiratory Syncytia Virus or RSV is a common virus that almost all children contract before the age of two. RSV presents as mild to moderate cold symptoms ie. persistent coughing or wheezing, rapid, difficult or gasping breaths, fever (especially if over 100.4° rectally in infants under 3 months old), and bluish color around the lips and fingernails. RSV is actually the leading cause of infant hospitalizations with approximately 125,000 hospitalizations and 200 deaths annually. RSV is particularly dangerous to premature infants and they are two times as likely as full-term babies to be hospitalized for the virus. World Prematurity Day is November 17, 2014, please share this post so that parents of preemies are aware of the risks of RSV.

Premature infants are 2x as likely than full-term babies to be hospitalized for RSV #sponsored #MC #RSVawareness #Preemieprotection
Click To Tweet

Now that we know what RSV is, how can we help prevent it? The simple answer is basically the same as most other viruses-wash your hands. RSV is spread by touching, sneezing and coughing and the virus can live on skin and surfaces for hours so hand washing is imperative. In addition to hand washing, keeping babies away from people who are sick, or have been recently sick is important as is keeping toys and blankets extra clean. Take extra care when taking baby out in crowds and never let anyone smoke near your baby. Make sure you choose a safe daycare for your child like the buddle.

I suggest you pin that infographic to your parenting or babies board so that you can find it when/if you need it.

If you would like more information about RSV, tips for talking to your pediatrician about risk factors or find data about the RSV season in your area visit RSVprotection.com.

The post Protecting Your Baby from RSV #Sponsored appeared first on The Mom Maven.