‘So scary when children are that young’: Mother and doctors call for more RSV awareness and protection

A Calgary mother whose baby was hospitalized due to a common virus is sharing their story, with the hope of warning other families.

A Calgary mother whose baby was hospitalized due to a common virus is sharing her story in hopes of protecting other infants heading into the respiratory illness season.

Katrina Bellavance’s daughter was seven weeks old when she caught Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and was on oxygen in the hospital for four days.

“It was pretty scary,” said Bellavance.

“We got the diagnosis in the hospital after rushing her in, in the middle of the night, because she couldn’t breathe.”

She and her husband have two older kids and had heard about RSV but didn’t know that it is the leading cause of infant hospitalizations in Canada or that it could quickly become so serious.

“She went to bed completely fine and at 3 a.m., she had to go to emergency, so we definitely weren’t prepared for that.”

Treatment

Treatments to protect babies against RSV were not available in Canada two years ago, when her daughter got sick, but they are now.

“We now have two products available to prevent infant RSV and especially prevent hospitalizations and severe outcomes with RSV,” said Dr. Cora Constantinescu with the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine.

The Abrysvo vaccine is offered to mothers late in pregnancy to protect newborns, while Nirsevimab is an antibody given to infants.

Constantinescu is also a pediatrician, infectious disease physician and member of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada (FMWC).

FMWC released a paper in July urging all provinces and territories to provide free coverage of the RSV vaccines for both babies and the pregnant mothers and increase awareness about the virus and protections.

“Really it’s about education and equity of RSV prevention methods,” said Constantinescu.

‘Huge impact’

Alberta currently only offers RSV immunizations to high-risk infants. That means most families don’t qualify, but experts say most of the severe cases are in healthy, full-term babies.

“Two per cent,” said Constantinescu. “So two out of 100 babies end up hospitalized with RSV (if they are born in Canada) in the first year of life.

“That’s a huge impact.”

Ontario, Quebec and Northwest Territories began offering the infant RSV vaccine free to all newborns in 2024.

Now, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nova Scotia have expanded their coverage to do the same.

Pregnant Alberta women can talk to their doctor about getting the RSV vaccine but it is not covered by the province, so the mothers would need to pay out of pocket.

Late Friday afternoon, CTV News received the following statement from the ministry of primary and preventative health services:

“For the 2025-26 season, the Alberta Pediatric RSV Prevention Program will offer Nirsevimab (Beyfortus) to high-risk infants. A cost-effectiveness and feasibility analysis, conducted by the Institute of Health Economics, is underway to inform decisions for the 2026-27 season.

Abrysvo will be available for the 2025-26 season to:

• Residents of continuing care homes and senior supportive living accommodations who are 60 years or older;
• Community-dwelling seniors aged 70 and older; and
• First Nations, Métis, and Inuit individuals aged 60 and older.

“While NACI is not currently recommending a universal RSV immunization program during pregnancy, pregnant persons may consider RSV immunization on an individual level at a cost to prevent severe RSV disease in their infant’s first few months of life.

“As more data and information become available over time, NACI’s recommendation around a population based maternal RSV immunization may change.”

Outside Canada

Many countries in Europe and the United States also offer the vaccines.

Experts say the RSV vaccines are safe with no reports of serious reactions, and are hugely effective in reducing severe outcomes in infants.

“From the initial studies and from the real world data from other places, they’re very very protective so we’re talking 70 to 80 per cent protection against RSV in the baby,” said Constantinescu.

Experts say the single injection lasts through the infant’s first RSV season.

With parental consent, newborns can receive the shot before leaving the hospital.

Common virus

RSV is a very common virus, and while most infants recover, it can have permanent effects.

Research is ongoing but some families whose infants had severe RSV have anecdotally reported developmental delays and longer recovery times when their child gets other respiratory illnesses.

The impact of the hospital stay can also be traumatic for the whole family, as they navigate the stress of having a severely sick child while juggling other life responsibilities.

Bellavance hopes her story can prepare other parents.

“If we can prevent any small babies from ending up in the hospital, that’s the end goal,” she said.

“There are options out there that three years ago, when (my daughter) got RSV, weren’t available,” said Bellavance.

Know the symptoms

Symptoms of severe RSV include babies who are lethargic with laboured breathing, including flared nostrils or skin pulling under the ribs and bluish lips and fingertips

The fall and winter months increase the risk because that’s when respiratory illnesses are commonly transmitted.

“Having holiday babies, that’s a huge risk and gatherings and people show up thinking that you know they just have the sniffles, but what’s the sniffles to an adult could be a hospitalization for a young infant,” said Bellavance.

Seniors are also at risk of severe outcomes due to RSV.

Alberta offers free RSV vaccines for people who are 70 years old or older.