15/08/2026
ใ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒใ
It was sometime in 2022โthe strange, uncertain period after COVID-19 restrictions were gradually being lifted.
People were still afraid of hospitals. Many parents were reluctant to bring their children in for medical attention, worried that hospitals were places where they might encounter COVID-19. At the same time, children were slowly returning to schools and childcare centres, and with that came something we had almost forgotten about during the lockdowns: the return of ordinary childhood infections.
Among them was ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฉโ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ป๐ฐ๐๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐.
At that time, I remember repeatedly warning parents about the surge of RSV infections in the community. For most older children, RSV might cause nothing more than a runny nose and cough.
But for a newborn, it could be very different.
โฆ โฆ One afternoon, my phone rang.
It was the Emergency Department.
โDr Ang, we need you urgently. There is a three-week-old baby here. She is very unwell.โ
I immediately dropped everything.
There were still about 8 - 10@ patients waiting to be seen in my clinic. But a three-week-old baby in the Red Zone could not wait.
I ran downstairs.
As I approached the emergency area, something stopped me in my tracks.
I recognised the baby.
I had seen her only two weeks earlier.
I remembered that consultation clearly. She was a tiny, beautiful newborn. We had talked with her parents about RSV because infections were increasing in the community. We discussed hand hygiene, avoiding sick contacts, avoiding unnecessary kissing and close contact, and keeping young babies away from anyone with respiratory symptoms.
I never imagined that, just two weeks later, I would be standing in front of the same baby fighting for her life.
She was lying inside the infant warmer.
But this was no longer the bright, healthy baby I remembered.
She was lethargic.
Her breathing was fast and laboured. She was already receiving oxygen through a headbox at 10 litres per minute, yet she was still struggling.
And then I noticed something even more frightening.
She was having pauses in her breathingโapnoea.
Her heart rate was around 180 beats per minute.
Her blood pressure was still within the normal range, but her little hands and feet were cold. Her capillary refill was prolonged, around three to four seconds.
For a newborn, these were ominous signs.
She was showing signs of poor circulation and shock.
I immediately called the medical officer in the Emergency Department for assistance.
โPrepare for intubation.โ
โGet the resuscitation equipment ready.โ
โPrepare IV fluids.โ
โWe may need inotropic support.โ
Everything suddenly moved very quickly.
While the team prepared the baby, I stepped outside the curtain to speak to her parents.
Her mother looked exhausted and terrified.
Her father stood beside her, trying to remain strong.
I still remember the words I said:
โ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐บ, ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐บ, ๐โ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ?โ
They told me that the babyโs elder brother had recently returned to the taska.
Two weeks earlier, he had been completely well.
But after returning to childcare, he developed what appeared to be a simple fluโa little runny nose and an occasional cough.
No fever.
He was still active.
Still eating.
Still playing.
To an ordinary parent, it did not sound like something dangerous.
And then came the part that broke my heart.
He was still breastfeeding and had been rooming with his mother and baby sister at the confinement centre.
โHe loved his little sister.โ
Of course he did.
โHe would occasionally come close to her.โ
โHe would kiss her.โ
A completely innocent gesture from an older brother who simply wanted to show his love.
But sometimes, love can unknowingly carry a virus.
The virus did not come with a warning.
It came in the form of a runny nose.
A little cough.
And an innocent kiss.
Within days, that seemingly harmless infection had reached a three-week-old newborn.
And now, that tiny baby was fighting for her life.
I returned to the parents and explained as calmly as I could.
โ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ด๐ช๐ค๐ฌ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ.โ
I could see the fear in their faces.
Her mother had barely slept the night before. She had spent the night trying to feed her baby, comforting her, watching her breathing, hoping that she would get better.
Now she broke down in tears.
Her father tried to stay composed.
But his eyes were red.
Tears were already forming.
And behind the curtain, the resuscitation continued.
That afternoon, this was no longer simply a case of โa baby with flu.โ
This was a critically ill newborn.
A baby who needed ventilatory support, fluid resuscitation, possibly inotropic medicationโand transfer to the NICU.
And all of this happened because a common childhood virus had found its way into a body that was only three weeks old.
That day reminded me of something I have never forgotten:
RSV may be just another respiratory virus to an older child. But to a newborn, it can be a life-threatening illness.
And sometimes, the most dangerous exposure does not come from a stranger.
It comes from someone we love.
A siblingโs hug.
A parentโs kiss.
A grandmotherโs cuddle.
A seemingly harmless cough.
For a newborn, especially during an RSV surge, these small moments can carry consequences that nobody intended.
The older brother did nothing wrong.
The parents did nothing wrong.
Nobody knew that his innocent affection could transmit a virus capable of making his baby sister critically ill.
That is the tragedy of RSV.
It doesnโt look frightening when it begins.
It may start with nothing more than a runny nose and a little cough.
But in a newborn, the story can change very quickly.
That little baby eventually received the intensive care she needed.
But I still remember the image of her lying inside that warmer.
And I still remember her motherโs tears.
Most of all, I remember the little brother who only wanted to kiss his baby sister.
A kiss filled with love.
But unknowingly carrying a virus.
Sometimes, prevention is not about being afraid of our loved ones.
It is about protecting the smallest among us from the things they are not yet strong enough to fight.
โก๏ธ๐พ๐๐ ๐น๐บ๐ฝ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐
The graphs below tell us something very important about RSV: the younger the baby, the greater the risk of becoming seriously ill.
RSV hospitalisations are heavily concentrated in the first few months of life. More than half of RSV hospitalisations occur during the first 3 months, and more than three-quarters occur within the first 6 months of life. This risk is not limited to premature babiesโeven babies born at term can become seriously ill.
This is why a seemingly simple cough or runny nose in a very young baby should never be taken lightly.
Another important message from the data is that RSV can be more serious than many people realise.
In infants under 1 year old, RSV has been associated with more respiratory-related deaths than influenza in the US and UK data shown here.
So when we talk about protecting a newborn from RSV, we are not simply trying to prevent a โcommon cold.โ
We are trying to protect a baby during the most vulnerable months of life.
For a three-week-old baby, like the little girl in my story, the immune system and lungs are still immature. A virus that causes only a mild runny nose in an older child can potentially cause breathing difficulty, apnoea, severe bronchiolitis, respiratory failure and even shock in a newborn.
And that is why RSV prevention matters.
It is not about being overly paranoid.
It is about understanding that the first few months of life are the period when a baby is most vulnerable.
A simple cough from an older sibling, a kiss from someone with a runny nose, or close contact with someone who does not even look very sick may be enough to transmit the virus.
For a newborn, โjust a little fluโ is not always just a little flu.
