Is this weird?

macawake, MSN · Mar 23, 2016

I'm a new nurse working in the pediatric department. A lot of the children we see are admitted due to respiratory complications. Many of them are Dx with RSV.
The one thing I find very weird is that most of the patients with RSV are treated with antibiotics (specifically,Rocephin) and supportive measures to treat the symptoms such as rest and fluids (suctioning and oxygen if needed).
I've always learned that you never treat viral infections with antibiotics.
Do any of you know why this may be an intervention for patients with RSV? I honestly can't get a clear answer.

Have you asked the provider/s who prescribed the cephalosporin why it was prescribed? I always ask for a clarification if I'm unsure why a specific med is ordered. You need to understand why you're administering the medication so you can explain it to your patient or your patient's parents.

I'm not a pediatric nurse and have very little experience with RSV. My guess would be the possibility of a (pulmonary) bacterial co-infection. Perhaps a peds nurse can give a better answer :)

I realize that you're a new nurse and that it's a steep learning curve as you're starting off. Just keep asking questions of the your more experienced nurse coworkers and medical providers. Also, medical databases are a good resource to expand on your knowledge base.

Good luck!

niccikatie · Mar 23, 2016

I agree that you should ask the MDs, but here's an article for you, too. It says they found 40% of patients admitted for RSV also had a bacterial co-infection.

High incidence of pulmonary bacterial co‐infection in children with severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2016

I would imagine this is due to the high incidence of bacterial pneumonia as a complication of RSV.