BATON ROUGE, La. — Grayson Handy turns five months old Thursday. Luckily, he will be at home instead of in a hospital, but he is still struggling to breathe. Grayson has been fighting a severe case of RSV, Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
"Coughing, he had a fever, then his breathing changed," his mother, Skyla Jackson said.
She said Grayson started getting sick a week and a half ago.
"Grayson tested positive for three viruses. RSV, Parainfluenza and Rhinovirus," Jackson said. "He was choking, coughing, throwing up, I was like listen we need to take him to a hospital now."
Jackson lives on the Westbank and Grayson's dad, Granville Handy, lives in Lake Charles. They met at Our Lady of the Lake Children's Health in Baton Rouge last Monday to admit their son. When they arrived, he began throwing up and choking with color fading from his face.
"We didn’t even get him fully checked in yet, nurses came out grabbed him, took him to the back, started suctioning his nose, his mouth," Jackson said. "They put an oxygen machine on him, they started with IV's, taking blood work, chest x-rays, they had 20 doctors operating on him and we felt so helpless. We felt like it was the end. It's an unexplainable experience."
RSV is typically a winter virus and doctors at Children's Hospital New Orleans said they have never seen a summer spike like this. Normally this time of year, there would be zero children admitted with RSV. Right now at Children's, they have about 20.
RSV cases were low last year likely due to masks and social distancing, according to the CDC. Now, the CDC is warning of an increase in cases across southern states. For most, it resembles a common cold, but RSV can be dangerous for babies. It's the leading cause of Bronchiolitis and Pneumonia in children under one.
"Covid didn’t really affect children, it affected adults, and now that outside is opening up, RSV is attacking all children. It's crazy," Jackson said.
Grayson was in ICU on oxygen for five days and now has a home breathing treatment. His parents are thankful he's on the road to recovery.
RSV is primarily spread by coughing, sneezing and direct contact on surfaces so hand washing is very important.
Jackson believes Grayson could have caught RSV from daycare. Many daycares have been issuing warnings to parents of outbreaks and asking them to keep any sick children home.