RSV vax Synagis

My girls were born at 32 weeks on 9/17/10 and came home from the NICU on 10/11/10 :banana: . At their first Dr appt. she recommended the RSV vax Synagis for the girls. So the nurse calls today to set up a appt for them to get the vax and says that after getting it we have to stay there for 30min in case of a reaction :shok: which she added is very rare. So now I'm wondering how bad this is, they don't require you to wait after any other injections. For those of you who's kids have gotten this any reactions? I guess I'm wondering is if we shouldn't go to a bigger city and get these? If any reaction happens this clinic and hospital is only good for putting on a bandaid anything else and it's a 1hr ride to the nearest big city which is Madison. I had the girls in Madison cause I knew if something went wrong that they would have to be transferred out and I didn't want them an hour away from us. We will vax but wondering if we shouldn't go down there for it and not here. We tend to be very conservative with vaccine's ie. only getting one at a time and spacing them out so if there is a problem we know which one caused it.
I'm gonna guess that it's not bad but the 30 min thing has me second guessing it.
Thanks,
Janelle

 

My 2 year old son got it for 2 years and never had a reaction. My girls are getting it this year (they had their first dose last month and have their second this Friday) And none have ever had a serious reaction. I am like you on the delayed/selective vax but we get these done. Technically the doctors office should have you stick around for all vax but they usually don't. If there is going to be a serious reaction it tends to be with in the first 10 minutes and like the nurse said, it's rare. For my girls, the benefits outweighed the risks on this one.

 

My boys (26w5d) had it last year and hopefully will be starting it again soon. They never had any reactions at all. We had a home health nurse administer them and she would wait around for about 15 minutes after doing so (and, if they do not react the first time you can rest-assured that they won't react subsequent times). I think reactions are rare, but why don't you talk to your doc's office, ask what the possible reactions are, and ensure that they are equipped to handle them if they occur. If not, perhaps make other arrangements. I personally think the vaccine (it isn't technically a vaccine, that's why it has to be given once a month) is a wonderful tool to help preemies ward off respiratory infections. Good luck.

 

My twins got them when they were infants and we were never told we had to wait 30 min. after the shot. :huh: That said, they got them for the first year Nov-April and neither had a reaction at all. That's great that your twins qualify for them. :Clap:

 

Mine also received these for about 6 months and never had a reaction. They had me wait sometimes and others we didn't. I personally wouldn't worry about the 30 minute wait and wouldn't go somewhere else, but you have to do what you feel comfortable with.

 

Our girls got them when they were infants, only the nurse came to our house. The supplies were delivered and then the nurse would come out a day or two later. Anyway, an epi pen was included with the supplies in case of a reaction. They never had a reaction, though. It's great your twins qualify!

 

Mine got it and I don't ever remember having to wait. I think its great to be proactive but I understand not wanting to wait around in a germy drs office for 30 extra minutes either! Guess that would only be that one time though right? After that you would know there is no reaction right?

 

Both of my girls got them, and we never had to wait. Neither one of them ever had a reaction either. GL!

 

My guys both qualified for 9 injections each (Sept-May); the doctor never had us wait afterward, and my boys never had any sort of reaction.

 

It looks like our babies will probably come early as well, but I did not even know there was a vax for RSV. We have not vaccinated our younger 2 children at all as we have learned so much as to the damage they actually do to the immune system. I am inclined to say we will not be vaccinating these babies either but I will have to read about this particular vaccine. None of our other 6 kids have ever had RSV.

 

My boys both had 5 shots each and we were never asked to stay after. That being said I know that here we are suppose to have people wait 20-30 minutes after any kind of immunization but not everyone follows those directions.

 

Synagis is not a vaccine (even though I realize I referred to it as such above because it is very commonly called one). It is a virus-fighting antibody that acts in the body for 28-30 days against RSV (this is why it's given monthly). The reason your other children did not get Synagis is because I'm guessing they weren't preemies. Synagis is only given to premature babies (usually <32 weeks, although it can be given up to 35 weeks if the baby is born very close to the onset of RSV season and the baby is determined to have other risk factors) and babies with certain heart conditions.

 

I did reading on this today (since I am on modified bed rest I do A LOT of research lately ) What I read is that it does NOT keep a baby from getting RSV rather it MAY help lesson symptoms if they do get it. Also some of the side effects include, fever, runny nose and cold like symptoms. Seems to me if they are going to get sick from the injection then it is better to use preventative measures in the home... isolating the babies to a particular room, a lot of hand washing, keeping anyone who is sick away and avoiding crowds. After reading it seems like the most common side effects are just like getting RSV and the potential for a more sever reaction (although rare) may not be worth the risk. There is so much to consider when it comes to our children!!!

 

This is not accurate. If you read the scientific literature, very simply put, Synagis prevents infection.

The likelihood of this is rare.

More than likely, most moms/dads of preemies are taking all of these measures and babies can still contract RSV.
What is important to note here is, when a premature baby contracts RSV it is a very serious, possibly life-threatening situation that can require re-hospitalization and re-intubation.
We're not talking about a case of the sniffles for a baby who was on a ventilator for the first month of his life.
I personally think the best thing to do would be to evaluate this decision after your babies are born and you know what their particular risk level is. I know I feel lucky that something like Synagis is available to give my LOs the best protection they can get.

Best of luck with your decision.

 

Wow thanks for the replies and for calming my fears :grouphug: . The biggest thing that worried me was the 30min wait time after I guess I don't understand why the wait for this and not for any other injections.
My older son had a severe reaction to a vaccine so we tend to be a little cautious with these things.
In talking to a NICU nurse she said that most of the babies that come in with RSV end up on vents and don't do very well. I also remember a little boy who come home from S Korea right before my son did actually got RSV and died . So I'd rather take the chance and get the injection than to not get it. I also have four other germy kids that no matter how much I stress handwashing they still come down with something :BDH: and bring it home to the rest of us.
Thanks for the help and information.
Janelle

 

ditto what the pp said but rsv is MUCH worse than the fever, runny nose and such. My son lost 3lbs and was extremely sick. Its terrifying for all preemies (especially those that spent any time on a vent, mine spent almost 12 weeks on a vent).

 

What I read is that it does NOT keep a baby from getting RSV rather it MAY help lesson symptoms if they do get it.

This is not accurate. If you read the scientific literature, very simply put, Synagis prevents infection.


I read the patient insert that comes in the Synagis vial (available online and at the Medimmune website) Here is what it says:

SYNAGIS is a prescription medication that is used to help prevent a serious lung disease caused by Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)
• Your child may still get severe RSV disease after receiving SYNAGIS. Talk to your child’s healthcare provider about what symptoms to look for.

• If your child already has an RSV infection and is sick,they still need to get their scheduled SYNAGIS injections to help prevent severe disease from new RSV infections.

So it seems to me that even the manufacture says they can still get it and that it is used to help prevent serious problems from getting RSV but will NOT stop your child from getting RSV. Just like the flu vax does not guarantee you wont get the flu.

With all this said, I realize I am coming off like a majors Devils advocate here, but I think all information is needed to make informed decisions about anything. We as parents are our childrens biggest advocates and I personally will not give anything to my kids just because some one says so. However, My DH and I will for sure consider all of this, (the ingredients in the injection pros cons) and the condition's of our babies when they are born because obviously we would never give or not give something to them that could be life saving.

 

The original poster did not intend for this post to be a debate about vaccinating; she was asking about wait time. So, I think we should leave the conversation here and say, to each their own.

 

My 34-weekers had it their first winter and never had a reaction at all to the injections. (No fever, runny nose, soreness at injection site, nothing.)

There is some mis-information in this thread about RSV, so I wanted to clear that up in case anyone else is reading this and using it to help make their decisions about Synagis.

RSV is an extremely common respiratory infection. Almost all children have had an RSV infection by their second birthday. For healthy term infants, RSV usually presents like the common cold and they recover within 1-2 weeks without complications. For preemies and babies with compromised immune systems or lung problems, RSV infections can be deadly. Common complications of RSV in these infants are bronchiolits and pneumonia. Synagis helps prevent the development of bronchiolitis and pneumonia from RSV infections. These are the complications that usually land preemies and even healthy term infants in the hospital. Synagis does not prevent RSV itself.

For more info, see http://www.synagis.com/Default.aspx and http://www.cdc.gov/rsv/index.html .

 

I wouldn't hesitate to get it done locally--we did and I would do it again. They would have any meds on site necessary to deal with the rare allergic reactions. If I remember correctly, they did make us wait for a little while, but that was fine cause they were screaming anyway and I had to feed them anyway before we could leave.

 

I live in a small town and my second child had Synagis for two seasons - we received the shots here (in our town) and had no problems at all.

 

My 34 weevers didn't qualify even though jessy was only 2lbs 13oz. Even with us only leaving the house to go to the dr for the first 3 months both of them got rsv at 2 months. They were almost hospitalized the only thing that kept them out is I'm asmatic and knew how to give breathing treatments.

 

It is so worth getting this medicine (IMO)! My friend with b/b frat twins almost lost one of her preemie sons to RSV. She was never told about Synergis and her family definately qualified to get it!

Please double check if you want to go with it, but I would STRONGLY recommend getting it!

Our case: we got only 1 dose of Synergis. We were 32wkers. Insurance Co denied our outpt use for it. We were housebound 5 months & still got RSV at 3 months old. Now we live the life of Neubulizer treatments with just about Every Cold.

Again, do what you feel is best for your family!

 

We got Synagnis shots on time the girls first year (delayed other vax's due to size, they are now caught up). They were on vents and born w/ RDS.....RSV is very scary for little babies and can do lung damage- we got them the first year and the girls lungs had lots of time to heal and grow. We also were housebound for 7 months (Oct- Apr) to avoid illness, the Dr said that their lungs were that fragile post NICU.

Preemies and low weight babies are often treated differently than term babies due to the fagility of their lungs & systems, they were under a lot more stress post birth and much smaller than full termers/full weight babes.

When they were 1+ they both got RSV as toddlers and were hospitalized. We tried to get Synagnis shots that year, but they did not qualify. One DD still has some mild chronic lung issues.Both DDs have asthma.


We also waited the 30 min. after the shots. No big deal, we had no side effects ever and it was fast and easy. My girls also had allergy shots from age 2.5-4 and we had to wait *just* in case. We never had a reaction to those either.


Get your information, talk to the nurses, and then make the choice that you feel is best for your family!

 

Well we got them and they had no problems only cried for about 5 seconds. I had to sign a form saying that we would wait the required 30mins which I thought was odd but o'well.
Thanks for the help and the honest discussion everyone calmed my fears cause I'd rather hear it from parents who have btdt than a nurse who gives the injection and then walks away.

 

:Clap: Glad the shots went well yesterday!

 

Glad you were able to get them! We also just found out that our boys qualify for a second year of Synagis, so I'm very happy about that.
I know our boys are stronger now, but whatever we can do to prevent infection during this season is worth it!
I know of a girl whose preemie son contracted RSV 10 years ago and he still has respiratory issues because of it :-(

 

For what it's worth, I think it's totally worth a phone call to your insurance company to see if your child/ren qualify for a second year of Synagis. I was SHOCKED that ours did - full-term, nearly 7 lbs., no congenital defect, etc. - I was THRILLED to have the shots for a second year (and paid for by our insurance).

 

Wow, you are really lucky. Mine did not qualify for a 2nd year of synagis and they were born 3 months early (and both under 2.5 lbs at birth). They said mine were too healthy.


I would think they (the insurance company) would probably need to re-evaluate the babies health the next year before making that decision.

 

I'm not sure if any of you are still reading this thread, but if your babies qualify for the RSV "vaccine", they will probably also qualify for a home health nurse to come administer it. This is fantastic since you have to get the shots monthly. Dragging two small babies into the doctors office (where there are lots of sick kids) five or six times over the winter is a pain. You can ask your Pedi to check into the home health nurse, or you can call your insurance company directly to schedule the visits. My health insurance (Blue Cross Blue Shield) told me about the home nurse, set us up, and then shipped the vaccine directly to me. We kept it in the fridge until the nurse arrived. Just FYI...

 

We were lucky enough to have a home health nurse for the first season, but just found out we won't have this service for the second year. I'm just glad the shots were approved. But, as stated, it's definitely worth asking about.

 

wow - our insurance turned us down even though they were only 3 and 4 lbs at birth - they had no respiratory issues so the insurance company wouldn't pay for them...

 

I am guessing by the sounds of some of the PP's that these shots must be unaffordable if you do not have insurance that pays for them? We have a high deductible ins and must first meet that before they will pay so we may be stuck paying out of pocket if we want them.

 

They are super expensive. I want to say about $1200/per shot, per child if I remember correctly. It's crazy!!!

My girls didn't qualify for a second year of Synagis either and they were born at 28 weeks! So glad the appointment well well!!

 

We did not qualify for a second year either!! Mine had mild issues at a year and were 3+ lbs at birth. They had to have been on oxygen or 'serious' issues to get them a second year. They are very pricey.

We did not get a home health care nurse....they had enough demand for RSV shots in our area that they had 'clinics' once a month for two evenings at a local clinic (sleep clinic, so no sick kids) after hours. It was nice to talk to other parents w/ preemies as well!