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Anyone else sick with this respiratory virus?


VeteranMom
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We may have had it last week.  We are not from an area where it is prevalent currently but my parents had just returned from visiting Chicago. We saw them the day they returned and within 2 days my dd was sick and so were my nieces and 2 nephews.  My boys got it a few days later.  Adults got it also but didn't really have nearly as many issues with it as the kids in my family. No one needed hospitalization but it was the worst cold I've ever experienced.  My kids still have the cough but no longer having breathing issues. It took a lot out of them and they are still slow after a good 4 days without horrible symptoms.

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I saw a news article about it and people in hospitals wearing a breathing mask. My son has a nebulizer and we actually just requested a refill of albuterol sulfate. Is that what they are administering in the hospital? I am wondering if they are doing more, though, like giving a steroid as well. My state is not on the map for exposure right now, but it got me wondering.

 

They are probably doing a whole lot more than albuterol.  The mask in the picture would be for oxygen.  They might well be giving a steroid, probably oral or maybe IV.  If the x-rays indicate anything other than, or in addition to, a viral pneumonia, they may be on various antibiotics as well.  (e.g. when my ds11 was in the hospital a couple years ago, they couldn't figure out what type of pneumonia he had - possibly he had more than one - and so he was on two different antibiotics.)  I feel like I'm forgetting something.

 

One of the articles I read indicated that the patient was on a ventilator.

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I think this is what ds17 has right now and he's the one who usually never gets sick. :(

 

"Cold on steroids" describes him perfectly.

 

We're just doing the normal cold stuff while keeping an eye out for fever, rash or trouble breathing...I hope were doing the right thing.

 

I am such a worried momma.

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DH and DS10 had something like it about a month ago; fever for two days, then cold on steroids, then respiratory symptoms and a horrid cough for DS10. I thought it was maybe RSV until I read the news story. We are not in one of the states with reported illness, but still it is likely more widespread than we know.

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I've had a cold for the last few days, but I don't know if it's the virus that's been in the news.  I always get knocked out by severe colds and I spent today alternating between teaching/assigning schoolwork and napping.  My dd never gets sick, but she was whining and complaining about sinus pain all day.  I'll watch carefully for breathing issues.

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I am fairly certain I had it 3 weeks ago. Still getting over the cough, but it has dwindled down significantly. What set it apart was body aches and low grade temp for two days. I felt awful. Then the runny nose began, which went straight to my lungs. Had an awful, non-stop, non-productive cough and more wheezing than I've ever had in my life. I'm prone to wheezing on rare occasions, but this was really bad. Got an inhaler and steroids (which I was too chicken to take) but the inhaler allowed me to breathe and sleep at night. I should have gone to the doctor sooner, I was miserable. It was a good 2 weeks before I stopped coughing every few minutes.

 

My kids did not get it, other than one had a runny nose for a few days. I am wondering if I got it so bad because I'm prone to asthma/wheezing?

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My middle daughter (16) probably has it.  She hasn't been tested for it specifically, but the doctor said it's probably a viral respiratory thing. She's asthmatic so I told her if her breathing becomes unusual or strained to just tell me and we'll go to urgent care.  It seems to be somewhat worse than a chest cold in her case.  She's had it for about 4 days now and it's getting better.  She has prescription nasal spray the doctor gave her that she uses once a day.  

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Ugh. One of my little guys and I would be hit badly by this. Here is hoping we don't get it. There doesn't even seem to be anything we could do about it; I'd seriously consider a vax for it if there were one. For now, I'll stick to dosing us with vitamin D to boost our immune responses, lots of hand washing, limited trips to the library (because the littles play with toys, which seem to be huge germ factories), and no public water fountains.

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Also, what is the general protocol for this, especially for littles? Watch and see, or call the doctor right away, or go to the ER asap, or what? My little guy gets albuterol in a mask round the clock at the first sign of any serious coughing, with instructions to head to ER for IV steroids if need be -- is that generally what we should do for this illness, or would we want to be acting even more quickly to get to the ER?

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According to the CDC website, this particular enterovirus has been rare in the US in the last 40 years.  

 

I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but I remember seeing the sick children who came across the border this summer and at the time I was concerned about what diseases might be spread.

http://www.abc15.com/news/national/immigrants-bringing-diseases-across-border

 

 

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According to the CDC website, this particular enterovirus has been rare in the US in the last 40 years.  

 

I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but I remember seeing the sick children who came across the border this summer and at the time I was concerned about what diseases might be spread.

http://www.abc15.com/news/national/immigrants-bringing-diseases-across-border

Then Texas would have been having issues earlier. Sometimes things are just cyclical.

 

According to Mark Pallansch, director of the Division of Viral Diseases at the CDC, similar cases to the ones in Colorado have been cropping up across the U.S. At least 10 states -- Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Georgia -- have reported suspected outbreaks of human enterovirus 68 and requested CDC support.

Not a single border state.

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You know if this had been last winter I would have sworn I had the virus.  I got a cold last winter than just never ended.  I started off with what I thought was a bad cold/flu which quickly followed with a horrible cough and chest tightness/pain/shortness of breath, ended up with a ventolin puffer (which I may have needed anyway since I have virus induced asthma), my cough, shortness of breath and chest pain lasted 3 months.  Later I learned whooping cough was making the rounds through the school so I am sure that is what I had.  But it this virus makes someone feel like that I sure as heck don't want it.  It has not hit Canada yet as far as we know (I mean of course people could have it but never went to the dr so not confirmed), and I hope it stays that way.  I can't afford to get the common cold right now let alone anything else.

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Also, what is the general protocol for this, especially for littles? Watch and see, or call the doctor right away, or go to the ER asap, or what? My little guy gets albuterol in a mask round the clock at the first sign of any serious coughing, with instructions to head to ER for IV steroids if need be -- is that generally what we should do for this illness, or would we want to be acting even more quickly to get to the ER?

This is my littlest. Albuterol round the clock, ER if necessary. Lately we've started him on low dose inhaled steroid and his last cold was just a cold. The last four colds before that turned into pneumonia (which says a lot seeing as he's only 17mos). Would your pedi allow you to have prednisolone on hand in case he gets inklings of a cold. Oral steroids are just as effective if you catch the flare in time.

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I'm concerned that my 16 year old ds has this. He goes to public school and has missed 3 days. He had a cold a few weeks ago and missed a day then. He had a fever but symptoms weren't as bad as this time and he got over it right away. He seemed fine this weekend and played in a baseball tournament (4 games). He started coughing a bit Sunday night and woke up really sick Monday morning. It hit him hard and fast. He usually gets over things quickly but today is as bad or worse than yesterday.

 

He doesn't have asthma so I'm not sure if I should bring him in to the doctor. He says his chest hurts and he is very congested and coughing a lot. He doesn't have a fever though. So you think I should bring him in? I know with a virus antibiotics won't help but this sickness concerns me a bit. We live in the Chicago area ao we are in an area affected.

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According to the CDC website, this particular enterovirus has been rare in the US in the last 40 years.  

 

I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but I remember seeing the sick children who came across the border this summer and at the time I was concerned about what diseases might be spread.

http://www.abc15.com/news/national/immigrants-bringing-diseases-across-border

I wondered about this, too, since they quickly shipped off a large number of children and we don't know where they ended up.  

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My son got the cold from hell in June. It was awful, it hit him fast and kept going for weeks. We finally went in after 8 days when the coughing and shortness of breath got so bad he was puking. They gave him antibiotics in case it had turned bacterial (the doctor was on the fence but thought it prudent since everything was so inflamed and red) we skipped oral steroids but they did a breathing treatment in the office and he was given an inhaler.

He was still needing the inhaler some days through August because his chest and lungs were so easily irritated.

 

I know it was earlier than expected, but I am really hoping he somehow got it then and we don't deal with another nasty virus this soon, especially since I doubt his chest is truly fully healed even now.

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Oh, no.  My 9 yo son came down with what I thought were allergies yesterday.  Tonight he has a runny nose, coughing, and a tight chest. I can tell he is miserable.  He has asthma, so I am watching him closely.  We are in northern VA. People from everywhere come through here. He may have picked this up at church on Sunday, or who knows where. 

 

This will be a sleepless night for both of us, I think.  He has used his inhaler just a bit ago, and is on an allergy prescription.  He hasn't had asthma in a very long time.  I'm really, really hoping this will not turn into an emergency room visit!

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Guest inoubliable

My littlest beasties had something over the weekend. Both were better in 24 hours but they both have asthma so they were watched closely. Yesterday I started coming down with something. I've been on the nebulizer off and on all day. My fever hasn't broken yet, either. 

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This is my littlest. Albuterol round the clock, ER if necessary. Lately we've started him on low dose inhaled steroid and his last cold was just a cold. The last four colds before that turned into pneumonia (which says a lot seeing as he's only 17mos). Would your pedi allow you to have prednisolone on hand in case he gets inklings of a cold. Oral steroids are just as effective if you catch the flare in time.

Not sure, but that's a very good question to ask. His tends to be in his larynx more than bronchial tubes, and they've told us that they really don't have a great treatment for it, other than albuterol round the clock at the first sign of the barky cough, and ER for steroids if it gets worse. The ENT specialist we saw also said the same thing. Nobody has mentioned having prednisolone on hand, but that is a great idea. I will inquire.

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What has made this different than a cold for me is the breathing issue.  I have an inhaler but it is totally worthless with this.  When I picked up ds from water polo, we stopped in the store to pick up something.  By the time I got back to the car, I was totally wiped out (coughing, wheezing, etc.).  

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I am terrified of this, as I have one with bad asthma who is often in the ER for a common cold. If anyone in Texas thinks it is here, please let me know.

I'm north of San Antonio, and there is something going around here.  Don't know if that's what it is, but there are a lot of people in town complaining of cold like symptoms. some people have said theirs turned into pneumonia.  Dd1 came home friday all nasally, low grade fever, sore throat, and no otc meds are doing anything.  Sudafed, mucinex, allergy meds.. nothing brings any relief.  Dd2 came home w/ it yesterday.  Taking her to the doc tomorrow, as she actually has fever over 100 and is complaining of ear pain on top of everything else.

 

I'm not one to worry about this stuff- didn't worry at all during the h1n1 scare, but I'm being more watchful over this one. 

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My young cousin lost a classmate today, presumably from this virus. The child even went to school this morning, but was sent home a little later in the day. He was a severe asthmatic from what I understand, and only in first grade. We are in Alabama. The virus has only been suspected here for a couple of days, so it is rather sudden and lots of people here are getting infected fast. It really makes me worried, having my own little one with mild asthma.

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