RSV vaccine and preemies

[mrledee]

Hello everyone,

My wife just gave birth to our preemie twins, a boy and a girl at 30 weeks! We are very excited.  When we told one of the doctors in the NICU that we didn't want to vaccinate but they were very persistent about the RSV vaccine. They told us that its a bad virus that that all preemies should get it.

I've done a little reading on the subject and I saw mixed feelings about the vaccine.  I wanted to hear back from parents (especially parents of premature children) that have decided not to vaccinate and were faced with the decision of giving their child the RSV vaccine or not?

thanks

[AnnieA]

The Synagis shot to protect against RSV is not a vaccine. It's something that you and your wife will need to decide and weigh the risk factors that your babies will encounter. My DD has to get the Synagis shot because she has a heart condition. If she was an only child and I was a SAHM, I would probably not do the Synagis, especially since she seems to react poorly to it. But she has 4 big brothers and sisters that are in school. They have 4 younger siblings at their mom's house so they are exposed to those germs as well. And I work so DD goes to a babysitter a few hours a day. I can't keep her from getting exposed to RSV and it is pretty prevalent in the winter. In people over the age of 2, RSV just looks like a cold so it's hard to tell who has it. For me, the risks from DD getting Synagis are too great for me not to give it to her. But that's something you all will need to decide.

[Siera]

My 31 weeker had the Synagis injections.  They are not a vaccine but rather more like getting an allergy injection. She had them once a month during the winter time.  Our pediatrician strongly encouraged us to get them because the alternative (having a preemie get RSV and end up in the hospital again) was not a route I wanted to go down.  In fact, he had twin preemies who's mom rejected the injections who ended up in the hospital.  So, for us, it was an easy decision.  I definitely did not want my daughter back in the hospital.  She did end up getting RSV at 2 1/2 but it was just a bad cold then.  Our doctor told us, too, that preemie lungs don't fully develop until they are 2, so its important to protect them as much as you can.

[AmyJeanneBee]

I have a 24weeker preemie and our previous vaccine plans went out the window when he came so early. We did the first round of vaccines a few weeks ago and he handled them fine. I put off the Hep B vac and will decide later. We definitely plan to do the RSV shots. We also heard from the nurses that it is not really a vaccine but more like an immune booster. Whatever it takes to keep him out of the hospital once we get him home.

[Ratchet]

I agree with the previous posters.  Also, yesterday I came in contact with someone who likely has pertussis- we are having an outbreak in our area.  They were not vaccinated/boostered and did not take preventative antibiotics when they had a close family member diagnosed with it. I am vaccinated (Tdap).  Of course the vaccine is not 100%.  And of course this person had to make a decision he felt comfortable with r.e. vaccine and abx.  But thinking of what pertussis could do to my 27-weeker puts a new spin on my thoughts about vaccines.  Not to spark a whole vaccine debate- I don't think there's a right answer, and there is a lot of decision-making based on fear- but that's the reality of having a preemie.

[liberal_chick]

We vaccinate on a delayed and selective schedule, but my ds1 (born at 30 weeks in 2005) got the RSV shots on time every month his first winter. I wanted to do everything I could to keep him from having to go back to the hospital. No regrets.

[mama2soren]

We do not vaccinate at all, but my 31 weeker got Synagis his first year.  It is NOT a vaccine, as others have stated.  RSV is nothing to mess around with, especially for a preemie.  If your insurance will cover it (injections run over $1000 a piece, and you get them multiple times), I would encourage you to seriously look into doing it.

[Cinder]

we also do delayed and selective vaccines and my 1st and 4th got synergis shots.  My 1st for one winter and my 4th for 2 winters (cause he was hospitalized for a cold at just past 1 year old).  My 3rd got RSV at 4 months old.  He was a healthy full term almost 7lbs 38 weeker and it was scary, he needed breathing treatments and steroids, we kept him out of the hospital, but he had to go back to the ped every day for over a week.  At 4 he still has asthma issues that they think are related to when he had RSV as a baby.

[twinpossible]

I was also nervous about the shot because we are a no vax family, in the end the choice was not ours. The insurance wouldn't pay for it, the shot is $1k and we have TWINS...$2,000 no thank you!

[liberal_chick]

I have to come back and add something that happened to us this week. My 16 month old came down with RSV. He was full term, is generally super healthy, and RSV has hit him hard. We spent 2 hours in the doctor's office doing steroid shots and breathing treatments because his pulse ox was 91 when we went in for his appointment. The ped was close to hospitalizing him. I can't imagine what the scene would've looked like for my preemie guy if his much healthier brother was struck so hard.