An Irish father has told of how his 12-week-old baby boy developed a severe case of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and has since had to be transferred to Sweden for “very serious advanced life support”.
Paul Murphy said his son, Liam, became unwell on Halloween night and would not take his bottle, so they brought him for a routine check-up.
Mr Murphy went on to explain that his baby boy became quite unwell after this appointment and was "unresponsive". He then said they witnessed Liam "almost turning blue around the eyes and the mouth".
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Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, the father called for clearer messaging from the Health Service Executive on the virus after Liam was ultimately admitted to the ICU at Children's Health Ireland, Temple Street.
Mr Murphy said although RSV is known to be a common virus, " it seems to have developed into something far more aggressive, particularly in newborn babies and younger babies."
The doctors in Temple Street used CPAP, which he said "was quite scary and Liam didn't like it at all, but that was keeping his lungs functioning.
"He was intubated shortly thereafter and we were told then that he had to transfer across to Crumlin. So, for that to happen, they needed to intubate him, which is tubes down the neck with a view to putting him on a ventilator straight over to Crumlin.
“At the time it was just an ambulance, which was scary enough because we couldn't travel with him.
"But then obviously that developed after four or five days in Crumlin ICU, and maxing the ventilator, putting him in an oscillator - that didn't work.
“The virus wasn't shifting, and we were given the news then on Saturday, November 5, about five days later, that we had to travel to Sweden for what was essentially emergency ECMO therapy treatment.
"Which is a very, very serious advanced life support".
Liam was quickly flown to Stockholm by the air ambulance but “he needed to be resuscitated on arrival there,” his dad said.
To make matters worse, Liam’s parents could not travel in the air ambulance because there was no room with the team and medical equipment, so they had to fly the following day.
"We were told that when he got there, he had actually needed to be resuscitated with CPR, so that was quite scary, but leaving Crumlin he was in a stable condition, so again the virus was so aggressive and completely saturated his lung,” Paul said.
"Every X-ray that we had done in the week, in a few days in the run-up to Sweden, would indicate that this the virus was just getting heavier and heavier and ultimately it was like a sticky glue blocking his alveoli and it just wouldn't allow him to breathe.
"So, the machinery had to do it for him, and eventually the machinery didn't work, so they had to completely rest his lungs.
“That's the treatment that he was put on, which is ECMO, which is basically extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which has taken the blood out of the body through an artificial lung and back in and it rests the major organs to give the body a chance to recover and the immune system to kick in itself."
Liam was on that for 11 days in Stockholm.
Mr Murphy said that thankfully Liam is on the road to recovery now and that it is "a positive story, but one that was, let's say unnecessary. But certainly, we feel that the messaging can be stronger.
"I think RSV is something that the general public and certainly us before this happened would consider, as maybe a common cold".
Mr Murphy said that his four-year-old son and two-year-old daughter have had RSV as well. He said they were sick but "they weren't anywhere near what Liam was.
“So, it seems that the HSE has contacted the early learning centres and creches, but my understanding is that the messaging hasn't gone out officially to schools."
He said: "I think that's quite important because ultimately, we got this virus from his older sister who was in the school system and Liam was in a very serious condition and we're very lucky to have him here.
"So, the messaging definitely can be stronger. I know there have been some health warnings on it, but in my view not sufficient. And also just to have to travel to Sweden for the treatment when it is available here in Ireland is something that was, we feel, unnecessary. At the time very necessary. It was our only option".
Mr Murphy thanked the medical staff in CHI Crumlin and Temple Street as well as the Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden "who were phenomenal."
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