CNN
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The surge in respiratory illnesses in children is beginning to strain hospitals.
Especially in hospitals, cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are increasing. RSV is a common cold virus that can be associated with severe illness in young children and the elderly. According to the latest real-time monitoring data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cases are rising in several parts of the United States, with some already approaching seasonal peak levels.
Surveillance data collected by the CDC clearly shows Elevated RSV Cases have increased nationwide in recent weeks, and PCR-detected cases have more than tripled in the past two months and are nearing last year’s peak. Get data from 75 counties, representing about 9%.
“Connecticut Children’s has seen a surge in RSV attendance.
Buchanan said hospital leaders will meet with the Connecticut Department of Public Health and the National Guard to begin a logistical review of deploying a mobile field hospital on the front lawn on Thursday to make a final decision and gain approval. He said further work was planned.
Dr. Juan Salazar, Executive Vice President and Chief Physician of Connecticut Children’s, told CNN’s Kate Bolduan that beds are full and children are coming to the hospital at “unprecedented” levels. The last 10 days, including many in need of intensive care and oxygen therapy.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time. In the 25 years I’ve worked with children in Connecticut, I’ve never seen this level of surge, especially RSV, coming to our hospital.” He said.
Salazar said the hospital had not yet expanded to open-air tents. Therefore, if RSV increases further and this is the last flu to hit, hospitals will need additional capacity. ”
The increase in cases is also coming sooner than doctors usually expect.
“Previously, different viruses were seasonal,” said Dr. Thomas Murray, an expert in pediatric infectious diseases and an associate professor at Yale University School of Medicine. CNN affiliate WFSB“As it is now, we have an outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus or RSV in December, then it disappears, followed by influenza, then another. They are all spreading at the same time.”
In most of the United States, RSV typically cycles in the fall, winter, and spring, although the timing and severity of RSV seasons in particular communities vary from year to year.
With RSV peaking in the summer of 2021, this year’s fall and winter spikes mark a return to the circulatory patterns seen in the years before the pandemic, said CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordland. says.
The shift comes at a time when other respiratory viruses such as Covid-19, rhinoviruses, enteroviruses and the coronavirus that causes influenza are also growing concerns.
Salazar said the U.S. is moving out of the Covid-era, when children had relatively little exposure to the virus.
“The next four to eight weeks will require caution,” Salazar said, adding that getting a flu shot now could help curb the surge in flu cases in the months ahead.
“Get your kids vaccinated against the flu,” he said. “This is the time you need to do it.”
The CDC recommends getting the flu vaccine for everyone over the age of 6 months.
According to the CDC, most regions of the United States have reported an early increase in seasonal influenza activity, with the southeastern and central-southern regions of the United States reporting the highest levels of influenza.
“It’s mid-October, not mid-November, and we’re already seeing scattered cases of flu across the country, including hospitalizations,” said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University. The medical director of the University Medical Center and the National Infectious Diseases Foundation told CNN.
