Lillianna Credeur is three weeks old and spending the first few weeks of her life in a hospital as she battles Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
"I was so scared," Ashely Credeur, Lillianna's mother, said. "I've never experienced anything like that before. It was very scary. She wouldn't respond and she was very lethargic. I just couldn't wake her up, and I had to keep pinching her to make her cry. It was very scary."
A mother of seven, Ashley said she knew what to expect when two of her children tested positive for RSV.
"Her three-year-old brother tested positive on the Friday and the one and half year old started coughing and tested positive on the Sunday," Ashley said. "We separated them when they were diagnosed. The grandma took the baby to try and keep them apart."
But then, Lillianna stopped breathing.
"We were laying down watching TV, she was in her swing, and I looked over to check on her--she was breathing really rapid and then she just stopped," Ashley said. "We rushed her to the hospital. We got there in 7 minutes."
Lillianna's breathing is now under control, she is eating again, and Ashley is looking forward to bringing her back home.
Dr. Reynaldo Dela Rosa, a medical doctor who focuses on pediatric critical care medicine at Our Lady of Lourdes' Women's and Children's Hospital, said Lillianna's condition is common during the winter months.
He said that they usually see a break during the summer months, but this year the cases remain steady.
Dela Rosa attributes that to places reopening and people becoming laxed.
"In 2020 there was really no RSV," Dela Rosa said. "Because we've opened, are being less cautious , not washing our hands, and wearing masks...because kids and adults aren't exposed to RSV the immunity came down. Now RSV is back with a vengeance. It's not just here in Acadiana, but nationwide. If you talk to several hospitals, they are overwhelmed with RSV patients, not just in ICU but on the general pediatric floor."
As for Ashley, while she faced a terrifying week with her baby girl, she is thankful that she trusted her instincts and Lillianna is on her way to recovery.
Iberia Medical Center and Mercy Regional in Evangeline Parish responded to our request about the uptick in Acadiana.
IBERIA MEDICAL CENTER :
"Iberia Medical Center has seen a substantial uptick in RSV cases over the past several weeks with the vast majority of these patients coming through the emergency department. As social distancing restrictions continue to be lifted, children are more likely to be around other children from other households and in public areas, possibly leading to unseasonably high summer RSV cases.
The IMC Quality Improvement Department is responsible for continuously monitoring CDC and statewide alerts and disease indicators to better identify and respond to trends in hospitalizations and ER visits.
The CDC identifies people at high risk for severe RSV infection https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/high-risk/index.html [cdc.gov] ."
MERCY REGIONAL:
"Mercy Regional says that they have seen more RSV cases this year.
They've seen it one or two more than usual this year.
The virus is more common in January (the colder months) but they are seeing it a lot now. They see about a dozen cases on average in January.
A third of that average has already been seen in the past month. They also said that typically adults do not get tested for the virus but in order to decrease the spread adults should also get tested like kids."
When to head to the Emergency Room:
Child's breathing becomes rapid
You can see the retraction when they take a breath (you can see their muscles getting pulled when they are breathing)
There head is bobbing with every breath
DON'T WAIT! RSV can also cause pneumonia.
