FORT WORTH, Texas — It’s not the way Dorina Barnes-Bryant thought she’d spend the first couple of weeks with her newborn son, Jaxtyn.
A couple of weeks ago, the Oklahoma mom found out her then-two-week-old son had Respiratory Syncytial Virus, better known as RSV.
“The cough scared me,” said Barnes-Bryant. “I was scared to death. My biggest fear is losing one of my children.”
RSV is common in children under two and could become a severe lung infection for children that young. The virus is spreading as COVID-19 cases surge.
That reality made it a tremendous challenge for Barnes-Bryant to find care for her newborn son.
Barnes-Bryant said her child’s doctor in Broken Bow, Okla. released him as his oxygen levels dropped. Desperate, the mother of four drove to Texarkana, Ark. She said multiple hospitals there were at full capacity and couldn’t admit her son. Finally, Cook Children’s reached out and air-lifted them from Texarkana to Fort Worth.
Barnes-Bryant said the hours before getting to Cook Children’s were grueling.
“I was literally sitting there watching my baby fade, and I didn't know what to do. I felt worthless. I couldn’t do anything to make my baby feel better,” Barnes-Bryant said.
Even after they arrived at Cook Children’s, Barnes-Bryant said they waited about nine hours for a pediatric intensive care unit to become available at the hospital.
“They were just so full. The emergency room nurses were running. I don’t even think they had a chance to breathe half the time. There were sick children everywhere you looked,” Barnes-Bryant said.
According to Cook Children’s, during the week of Aug. 8-15, the hospital had 152 positive RSV cases. It’s a drop from before when the hospital was seeing upwards of 200 positive RSV cases per week. A spokesperson for Cook Children’s said last summer, they weren’t dealing with RSV cases, because it’s a winter virus.
Medical Director of Infectious Diseases at Cook Children’s Dr. Mary Suzanne Whitworth said the surge in RSV cases during this time of the year is abnormal.
“What we’ve seen with RSV is not clinically unexpected, but it’s occurred at an unexpected time, and hopefully this is going to resolve over the next few weeks. We’ll just have to wait and see,” Whitworth said.
Whitworth said there are several theories surrounding the out-of-season RSV cases, but more research is needed to come to a definite answer. Whitworth said all children in the U.S. have an RSV infection before the age of two. When it happens during a child’s first year of life, it’s more likely to require hospitalization for lung involvement.
Barnes-Bryant and her son are home now. She still gets to stare into her baby’s eyes, and it’s thanks to health care heroes who stepped in to help even as the pandemic strains the health care system.
“Those nurses and doctors saved my child, and there’s no doubt about it,” said Barnes-Bryant.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, RSV symptoms in infants can include:
- Runny nose
- Fever
- Sneezing
- Coughing
- Decreased appetite
In older children and adults, symptoms can include:
- Runny nose
- Congestion
- Mild headache
- Sore throat
- Fever
- Cough
- Tiredness
The best way to protect your child from RSV is with good handwashing and maintaining clean surfaces around the home.