So here's my lil learning experience with this, I wanted to share it with other parents so they can spot the signs and get treatment as well.
Wednesday night, my 6 month old son was starting to cough a bit and had a mild runny nose. Thursday, it progressed a bit more and he threw up a few times. Friday during the day my wife took him to see a Doctor. The doctor said he had a cold and a stomach bug, it'll pass in a day or 2. Friday night, he was not feeding/eating at all and his cries started to resemble a whimper.
Saturday, he was so weak he wouldnt reach for anything, or do much more than cry. We went to the Airdrie Urgent Care centre (phenominal service btw!) and after an xray, they said he had a viral lung infection. They gave him a ventolin inhaler (with an aerochamber), and they prescribed amoxil. I was a bit aprhensive about the antibiotic. I asked why a 6 month old was being given an antibiotic, the doctor said the viral infection will leave him open to pnemonia - so the amoxil will keep that from happening.
I talked to a few people i know with kids < 1Y, and 2 of them have had their babies sick with very similar symptoms in the last 2 weeks. Turns out, one of them had confirmed RSV and sent me a CTV calgary article mentioning that it's going around right now:
http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...ub=CalgaryHome
He's on the mend right now, we've started to force feed him with breastmilk and water thru a syringe. Definately a lot more energy today than yesterday, but apparently he's probably got another week before he's thru it all.
Link to the Alberta Healt Link regarding it: http://www.healthlinkalberta.ca/Topi...24C0F48E143%7D
Symptoms:
runny nose with thick, sticky mucous
cough
mild fever
sore throat
mild irritability and discomfort
wheezing (a high pitched, whistling sound when breathing out)
and the big one that gave it away was a poor appetite - he refused to be spoonfed food, or to breastfeed. In adults, RSV is one of the viruses that is often called the 'common cold', however in infants it can quite easily (so im told anyway) lead to pnemonia, weightloss, dehydration.