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HealthWatch-RSV vaccine and children
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HealthWatch-RSV vaccine and children

RAPID CITY, SD (KOTA) – You may have heard a lot about RSV lately. This can be a real problem for the elderly and young children. Dr. Cara Hamilton of Black Hills Pediatrics has some ideas for keeping your children safe in this week’s edition of HealthWatch.

“RSV or respiratory syncytial virus is just another common cold for many of us, but for young children it can be particularly bothersome. This can cause a lot of congestion and even breathing problems. But in reality, most children aged 2 have been infected with RSV. It is responsible for tens of thousands of hospitalizations of children under five years old and even a few hundred deaths each year in this age group. So it would be good if we did our best to prevent this. Of course, the usual methods of washing your hands frequently and staying home when sick, keeping your child home when sick, avoiding daycare when sick to reduce the spread of the disease. But there is actually a new way to prevent RSV, a vaccine. It is not a vaccine in the true sense of the term, like the flu vaccine for example, where we encourage the immune system to produce its own antibodies. Instead, your child will be injected with monoclonal antibodies that will help reduce the risk of RSV infection entering their lungs and causing serious problems. The good news is that this type of vaccine does not cause too many side effects since we are not really strengthening the immune system. And it’s not a completely new technology either, something very similar to that used for several years now for the sickest children. Any child under eight months old could receive this vaccine, and some children under 20 months old could be eligible if their health permits. If you have questions about the RSV vaccine or other vaccines, be sure to talk to your provider. This is Dr. Cara Hamilton from Black Hills Pediatrics with your HealthWatch.

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