Zelienople family weathers RSV scare
One Zelienople child survived a serious health scare after coming down with respiratory syncytial virus in late January.
The child, 10-month-old Harper Swedish, is making a full recovery. But she is one of 192 Butler County residents so far this season to test positive as of Jan. 25, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. RSV typically begins in the fall and peaks in the winter months
The Swedish family is far from alone. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, RSV accounted for over 1% of all emergency-room visits in Pennsylvania by the week of Jan. 4. Positive tests for RSV in the state peaked at 11% by the week of Dec. 21.
Hannah Swedish is unsure how her child contracted the illness in the first place.
According to her, another hospital diagnosed her child with bronchiolitis before Swedish — who is a health care worker herself — realized something was off with her daughter’s condition.
“I was kind of watching her throughout the night, and I watched her oxygen drop from the 90s down to the 80s,” Swedish said. “I was watching her breathing, and I was like, I’m going to take her to the ER.’”
She promptly took Harper to AHN Wexford, where she was quickly diagnosed with RSV and placed on supplemental oxygen. Initially, she was given 2 liters of oxygen at a time, but that was quickly increase to 17.5 liters.
“She was on high-flow oxygen,” Swedish said. “They told us that if she got 19 liters, she would have to be LifeFlighted to (AHN Wexford) children’s hospital.”
Swedish said at one point it was unclear whether her daughter would make it.
“They gave my daughter a 50/50 chance,” she said.
However, after a five-day stay at Wexford, Harper’s condition stabilized, and she was able to go home and recover.
“They were able to medically manage her and keep her at a point where she didn't have to go,” Swedish said. “She is happy and healthy and playing and back to herself.”
She credited the staff of AHN Wexford for guiding her, her daughter and the family through the scare.
“In my opinion, they saved her life,” she said. “They were transparent with me the entire time and went above and beyond in every measure.”
RSV, like chickenpox, is known as a “childhood illness.” While adults are not immune to it, young children are the ones who display the most visible symptoms when infected.
“It results in more significant illness in infants and toddlers,” said Dr. Alicia Crow, a pediatrician at AHN Wexford. “Older children and adults absolutely still get it. It’s just a minor cold, and it doesn’t affect us to the severity that it affects small ones.”
Crow said RSV may look like a more harmless illness at first glance before more dangerous symptoms take hold.
“It starts out as a mild fever, congestion, runny nose, cough; then it escalates to shortness of breath,” Crow said. “You see their nostrils flaring. They may even grunt to breathe.”
In some severe cases, Crow said you may even see cyanosis — bluish discoloration around the lips due to lack of oxygen.
However, she said the virus shouldn’t leave any lasting damage to those it infects.
“For the majority, it’s a self-limited illness with no long-term complications,” Crow said. “In some circumstances, there can be secondary ear infections from the congestion that results in the upper airway. But most of the time they recover beautifully.”
There is one FDA-approved vaccination, known as nirsevimab — also known as Beyfortus — available to protect against RSV in infants up to 19 months old. However, pregnant women are recommended by the CDC to receive the vaccine Abrysvo, from Pfizer, between weeks 32 and 36 of their pregnancy.
