Q: What is the advise for nursing staff taking care of patient on Ribavarin inhalation therapy?

Answer: 

Pregnant nursing staff or staff planning or anticipating pregnancy should not take care of patient on Ribavarin inhalation therapy. It has shown to cause fetal abnormalities.

Ribavirin is widely distributed in all tissues including brain, CSF and RBC . The volume of distribution of ribavirin is large and the length of time the drug is trapped varies greatly from tissue to tissue. RBCs store ribavirin for the lifetime of the cells, releasing it into the body's systems when old cells are degraded in the spleen.