Respiratory syncytial virus, a common cause of cold-like illnesses in young children known as respiratory syncytial virus, began surging in late summer, months before the typical season from November to early spring. About 5,000 cases a week have been recorded in the United States this month, according to . federal datawhich is similar to last year but much higher than in October 2020, when coronavirus restrictions were tightened and few people contracted RSV.
“It is very difficult to find beds in children’s hospitals, especially in intensive care units for children with severe pneumonia and RSV, which are overcrowded.” Jesse Hackel, MD, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Clinical and Outpatient Care, said:
Nearly three-quarters of beds in children’s hospitals are occupied, according to federal health dataRhode Island, the District of Columbia, and Delaware reportedly have more than 94% of pediatric beds occupied. Maine, Arizona, Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Missouri report 85-90% of occupied beds. Data limited to facilities reporting information.
Several children’s hospitals in the DC area has reached capacity weeks; 18 children were waiting a The ICU room on Tuesday at the District’s Children’s National.
DC Realtor Kate Foster-Bankey has become more familiar with RSV after he began hearing stories from clients whose children were suffering from the virus in recent weeks, including one whose child was hospitalized at the National.
Later, her 3-year-old daughter Isabelle became ill, complaining of lethargy, rapid heartbeat and not eating anything. They waited two hours for her in a packed waiting room at a pediatric emergency center, where her Foster-Bankey, a mother of four, was used to seeing only a handful of patients.
During follow-up on Tuesday, Isabel was taken by ambulance to the children’s hospital emergency room. There she tested positive for her RSV and she had to wait until the next morning for bed.
Foster Bankey, 41, said, “It seems that we have completely abandoned pediatrics because of COVID-19. Children have to wait hours in waiting rooms with other sick children. There is no,’ he said.
At the Children’s Hospital of Connecticut, the emergency room is packed and patients are being triaged in the corridors. Teens with broken bones and appendicitis are being diverted or transferred to adult health centers to create additional space for patients with respiratory disease. Hospital officials are considering the possibility of setting up tents and caring for the influx of patients with the help of the National Guard.
In the past nine days, 110 RSV children have been in the emergency room and at times as many as 25 RSV children have been waiting for hospital beds, said Juan Salazar, chief physician of Connecticut Children’s. For the first time in his career, he said, he had to turn to doctors with other specialties, such as endocrinology and rheumatology, to treat RSV patients. The coronavirus has begun to sweep the United States.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my tenure here,” said Salazar, who has worked in the infectious disease field for 30 years.
Salazar Other doctors also said one possible reason for the increase in RSV cases was that “pandemic babies” born in the last three years had been protected from respiratory pathogens by social distancing and masking. said.
Salazar said another theory suggests that children exposed to covid-19 have weakened immune systems, even if they have had asymptomatic or mild cases. Even if the baby had asymptomatic or mild cases, the proportion of infection-fighting B cells may have decreased, resulting in a “level of immunosuppression,” similar to how a viral infection would have struck. There is
“So the virus found a highly susceptible population and spread very quickly,” Salazar said.
Texas Children’s Hospital, the nation’s largest children’s medical center, had more than 40 RSV hospitalized patients as of Friday, with several children in intensive care.
James Versalovic, chief pathologist at Texas Children’s, said the typical out-of-season RSV surge is a reflection of how different respiratory viruses interact with each other and how the pandemic has changed children born in recent years. said that it may be due to
“Their immune systems and immunity may have changed in ways we’re only beginning to understand,” he said, adding that the pandemic had changed humanity’s “patterns of susceptibility to respiratory viruses.”
Hackel of the American Academy of Pediatrics said masking during the pandemic simply slowed the normal pattern of transmission of respiratory pathogens. he said.
RSV, which predominately infected infants before the pandemic, is now found in children ages 3 and older, said Andrew Pavia, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Utah Health and Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital. rice field.
Hospitalization is not required for most cases of RSV and other respiratory illnesses. But when so many children fall ill at once, even a small percentage that need hospital treatment can run out of beds.
Elizabeth Murray, a pediatric emergency physician at the University of Rochester Golisano Children’s Hospital, said her hospital sees 20 to 30 patients a day because of the crushing respiratory illness. . About 5 out of 5 patients she has her RSV. With hospitals overcrowded, some people are staying in emergency departments and post-surgery areas instead of securing traditional rooms.
“We need to use the space a little more creatively,” said Murray.
Marc Lashley, a pediatrician at New York’s Allied Physicians Group, one of the nation’s largest pediatric organizations, said the rise in RSV cases is making his pediatric practice busier.
“It takes a lot of work to keep them out of the hospital,” said Lashley, adding that parents should keep sick children at home to reduce the spread of the disease and the strain on the health care system. “We don’t want our kids to live in a bubble, but we want parents to be cautious if their child has cold symptoms. That’s what RS It’s the beginning of the virus.”
Experts are also stubbornly concerned Low coronavirus vaccination and booster rates As officials prepare for a winter influx driven by subspecies that are adept at infecting people despite previous vaccinations and infections.
Children tend to have mild cases of covid-19, but with the few percent of seriously ill children reaching the thousands, hospitals are still reporting pediatric cases during waves of outbreaks. can be overwhelming.
At 92% capacity as of Friday, staff at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital are gearing up for a surge in RSV, flu and covid-19.
“We have the ingredients in place for all three waves to overlap,” Pavia said.
That’s why medical experts are expanding their pleas for people to get vaccinated against flu and coronavirus and to be careful. Multiple viruses attack simultaneously.
“If you get infected without being vaccinated, you may get a more serious infection.” RSV cases are increasing.
The virus proved unpredictable for Foster-Bankey, whose 3-year-old daughter was hospitalized with RSV this week.
Doctors were preparing to discharge Isabel on Thursday, but her oxygen levels dropped dramatically and she nearly passed out. She received oxygen support overnight and began rebounding on Friday, rejuvenating her after playing with the Elsa doll.
After three nights in the hospital, Isabel was able to go home in time for dinner on Friday. Her sisters welcomed her in her new pumpkin headband.
Jenna Portnoy contributed to this report.
