RSV: THE LOWDOWN

South African children are being struck down by a respiratory virus. Here's what parents need to know

-  NASIFA SULAIMAN

SHE could tell something was wrong. Her baby usually gulped down his milk with gusto, but now he just wasn't interested in drinking and his chest sounded congested.

Carla Somerset-Attewell watched her 10-week-old son, Caleb, like a hawk all day, but when he still wasn't feeding by evening she and her husband, Neil (34), decided they weren't taking any chances and took him to casualty.

After examining him, doctors told the couple from Vereeniging, Gauteng, that there was nothing to worry about and sent them home with some saline and nose drops.

But by the next morning when their child was still refusing to feed, they took little Caleb to a paediatrician. She took one look at the baby and admitted him to hospital as he was starting to show signs of dehydration.

Tests were done that determined Caleb had respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

"For such a small baby going through tests and everything, it's overwhelming, Carla (37) says.

Little Caleb was also too young to cough up the mucus from his lungs, so he had to have physio in hospital to dislodge it and ease his congestion.

After a three-day stay Caleb is back home and well on the way to recovery but the little boy is by no means an isolated case.

Neil and Carla Somerset-Attewell and their three-year daughter, Kinzley, are relieved to have baby Caleb back home. He had to have physio in hospital to dislodge mucus in his lungs after contracting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

After two years of almost no cases in South Africa, RSV is back with a vengeance and hospitals around the country are filling up with babies battling the virus.