RSV is short for "respiratory syncytial virus". It is currently spreading across New Zealand and is a common winter virus that affects people of all ages, but can be very serious for young babies.
Most adults and older children with RSV will experience symptoms similar to the common cold, including:
- a runny nose
- coughing or sneezing
- fever
- wheezing and difficulty breathing
- loss of appetite or difficulty feeding due to breathlessness.
Young babies, those born prematurely and children with underlying health issues can become very sick from RSV and may require urgent hospitalisation.
At Sprouts In-Home childcare, we are already practicing safe practices as part of our Covid-19 response, however we are also keeping a close eye on any child in our care to watch for any of the symptoms listed.If we do find a child in our care with symptoms, then we would immediately contact the parent to discuss the next steps as we do now.
With a maximum of only 4 children in care with our educators at any one time (Only 2 under 2), home-based childcare is naturally lower risk than larger childcare centres. That said, we do ask all our parents to keep any child home and away from toddlers if they are sick. We appreciate this can be a challenging step for working families, so we encourage parents to speak to their educator about their situation. We want to keep all our Tamariki safe!
If you are concerned about keeping your baby safe, click on the link below to get a detailed list of the signs your baby needs medical care and when to call 111.
