A children’s hospital in Michigan is straining capacity as a record number of critically ill children with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) flood emergency rooms and overwhelm hospital beds. increase.
Michigan Chief Medical Officer Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian told the Free Press on Thursday:
At the University of Michigan Health’s CS Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, wait times in the emergency department were hours, and some elective procedures were postponed to manage the patient’s crush.
“Never before has there been such a surge in pediatric respiratory viruses,” said Luann Thomas Ewald, chief operating officer of Mott and von Vogtlander Women’s Hospital, in a statement. hospitals are 100% full,” he said.
At Corewell Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, there are children being treated in chairs because the rooms and even the beds in the hallway are unavailable. Many private rooms in the hospital have been converted into double rooms.
“We typically see an average of about 145 children per day in the emergency department, and we are now averaging more than 225 children per day,” said a pediatric emergency room manager at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. Doctor Erica Michels, Ph.D. “That means unless your child is the sickest of the children brought in, you are very likely to end up waiting.
“You may be treated in a hallway bed or chair, and the whole department will feel very busy. But I want to reassure you that everyone feels busy, and that Very well managed.Emergency department staff are accustomed.We will take care of all of you to deal with the surge.It may take a little longer than before.
more:Michigan could be hit by RSV, flu, COVID-19, health leaders warn
more:Macomb County boy dies of RSV as Michigan children’s hospital fills with sick children
“I don’t know where the RSV peak is this season.”
About 86 percent of Michigan’s pediatric ICU beds used to care for the sickest children were full as of Thursday, said John Karasinski, spokesman for the Michigan Health Hospital Association. .
“In addition to the high incidence of RSV, the state has had an average of more than 30 COVID pediatric patients in Michigan hospitals in the past month, while the state has a higher incidence of influenza compared to previous years. ” Kalasinski said.
Some hospitals have activated incident command systems to manage crises and manage resources, he said.
“Hospitals are also working together statewide to move young patients into proper vision settings and free up ICU space for the most seriously ill children,” he said.
At the DeVos pediatric intensive care unit, which normally cares for about 24 children, 42 children were admitted on Wednesday, Michiels said.
“When a virus hits a community, they tend to do it in the form of a surge,” she said. , rising almost vertically.
“Our entire system is working to make room for as many children as possible, and we are making daily calls with leaders across the state to discuss available bed spaces.
“This is not business as usual. We need to work with all children’s hospitals across the state and really create some creative solutions so they can act immediately.” It’s the same as what you did.”
more:Amoxicillin shortage in Michigan, USA, fuels surge in pediatric RSV cases: What you need to know
more:Influenza threatens an early surge. Doctors are now urging vaccinations.
Response to labor shortage
Bagdasarian told the Free Press that health leaders in Michigan are doing everything they can to help the hospitals treating this surge in severely ill children, and that when it comes to assistance, “everything is possible. We are investigating,” he said.
“I think the public understands this when we talk about bed issues…because we don’t have enough rooms and…not enough beds,” she said. , but it’s actually about staffing nurses, doctors, etc., respiratory therapists, and other medical personnel — caring for sick children lying in bed.
“We recognize that’s a limitation here, and we’re working on many fronts to see what we can do to support pediatric staff across the state.”
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is stepping up volunteer registrations and making them accessible to the hardest-hit hospitals, she said.
“We are working on many fronts and you can expect more information on this next week,” she said.
Dawn O’Connell, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Office of Strategic Preparedness and Response, said at a news briefing on Friday that the federal government is working with state and local health care providers to assess hospital capacity issues related to the RSV surge. He said that
Federal agencies can deploy supplies such as masks, surgical gloves, gowns and ventilators from the Strategic National Stockpile to struggling hospitals, O’Connell said. It may also be deployed in large areas.
A spokesperson for the Office of Strategic Response Management told the Free Press that as of Thursday afternoon it had not yet received a request for federal relief from the state of Michigan.
Subheading
As the RSV surge intensifies, health leaders are urging parents of children with respiratory illnesses to call their doctor before taking them to the hospital to ensure they need urgent care. I’m here.
Dr. Kimberly Monroe, Interim Chief Clinical Officer and Pediatric Hospitalist at Mott, said: “However, if there are signs of serious illness, such as difficulty breathing, urgent medical attention may be needed and should be taken to the emergency department. We are particularly concerned about children under the age of two. increase.”
Like DeVos, Mott has long queues in the emergency department and full pediatric beds.
“We are working very closely with our partners across the state to find spaces for children who need care, even if they are not in our hospitals,” said Thomas Ewald. I was. undulation. “
So far this season, Mott has treated 259 children with RSV — a 46% increase over 2021 — hospital leaders warn of next flu season and another spike in COVID-19 cases. He said the situation was likely to get worse.
“This is incredibly worrying as we have yet to see the full impact of the flu season,” said Thomas Ewald.
Beaumont Health’s new name, Corewell Health East, saw a 1,579% surge in children treated for RSV at its emergency center and eight hospitals. Oct. 31-Nov. 6, a spokesperson told the free press.
New Corewell Health East Visitor limit on Monday to limit the spread of RSV, flu, coronavirus and other respiratory diseases. Children under the age of five are no longer allowed to visit patients in hospitals, except in extreme circumstances such as the end of life.
What is RSV?
RSV is a common viral disease that usually causes mild cold-like symptoms in healthy adults and adolescents, but can cause severe illness in infants, young children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems. may cause In some cases, it can be fatal.
A 5-year prospective study based on a survey of hospitalized children published in Pediatrics, the official medical journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, found that approximately 5 in 1,000 infants under 2 years of age were hospitalized with RSV infection. increase.
“This is a higher rate than the flu or COVID-19,” epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Caitlin Jetelina, told Substack. your local epidemiologist“The younger the child, the more Probability is high hospitalization. This is because their airways are so small that when inflamed they are unable to pass airflow.”
The average hospital stay for children is about five days, she said, and about 7% need to be admitted to the ICU for respiratory syncytial virus.
“Among hospitalized most children I used to be healthy,” said Jetelina.
RSV died before the coronavirus pandemic 100-500 US children Under five each year, she said.
So far this year, the virus has killed at least one child in Michigan. His 6-year-old boy in Macomb County died of his RSV on November 2 at an Oakland County hospital.
among the elderly, 60,000 to 120,000 Between 6,000 and 10,000 people in the United States die from RSV infection, according to Jetelina.
“like COVID-19RSV is troublesome for older people because they have weaker immune systems and are more likely to have underlying medical conditions such as heart or lung disease,” she said.
What are the signs that my child may need to go to the emergency room with RSV?
Most children recover from RSV at home, doctors told the Free Press. is needed.
- quick breathing
- wheezing or moaning
- Widening of the nostrils or tense muscles in the neck, chest, or abdomen when trying to breathe
- I don’t eat well
- excessive fuss or excessive lethargy
- bluish color of the skin
- In infants, dehydration caused by not getting the diaper wet
- Apnea episode
Contact Kristen Shamus at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus. Subscribe to Free Press.
