RSV other viruses making it hard to find a bed in children s hospitals HEAD TOPICS

RSV other viruses making it hard to find a bed in children s hospitals

10/22/2022 1:23:00 AM

RSV a common cause of cold-like illness in young children started surging in late summer months before its typical season from November to early spring

Source

The Washington Post

Children’s hospitals are under strain in the United States as they care for unusually high numbers of kids infected with RSV and other respiratory viruses. RSV a common cause of cold-like illness in young children started surging in late summer months before its typical season from November to early spring AdvertisementSeveral children’s hospitals in the D.C. arearoom in the ICU on Tuesday at Children’s National in the District.AdvertisementAt Connecticut Children’s Hospital, the emergency room is so full that patients are being triaged in hallways. Teens with bone fractures and appendicitis are being diverted or transferred to adult-care centers to create additional space for respiratory patients. Hospital officials are considering the possibility of enlisting the help of the National Guard to set up tents and care for the influx of patients. Read more:
The Washington Post » CHOP doctors talk about navigating 'sick season' and early RSV spike Colorado physicians see uptick in pediatric RSV cases Connecticut hospitals seeing dramatic rise in RSV cases in children Advocate Children's Hospital compares surge in RSV cases to 'March 2020'

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CHOP doctors talk about navigating 'sick season' and early RSV spikeDr. Ron Keren, chief medical officer at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, says RSV started in April, not November as usual, and is now running at mid-winter levels. Geeze- I wonder why it’s here early 💉💉💉🤬 Colorado physicians see uptick in pediatric RSV casesColorado physicians are seeing an increase in pediatric respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and while the severity of individual cases may vary, there are key steps for prevention. via CB_Cotton Connecticut hospitals seeing dramatic rise in RSV cases in childrenConnecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford says it is out of beds and is now in talks with the National Guard and FEMA about setting up a tent unit on its lawn. Advocate Children's Hospital compares surge in RSV cases to 'March 2020'What is RSV? There has been a surge of cases of the upper respiratory infection in kids across the country, including the Chicago area. MOCHA_vation103 WhoisAmuneyyy RSV Cases Surge In San Diego, 300 Recent Cases Reported By Rady Children's HospitalAcross the country, there has been an alarming case surge in the respiratory illness known as RSV. In San Diego, at least 300 patients have tested positive in the last week and a half, according to the clinical director of infectious diseases at Rady Children’s Hospital. justthefacts85 Is anyone doing lymphocyte subset panels (T cell counts) on these children? Perhaps there are so many sick with severe RSV, etc., because they are immunocompromised after “mild” Covid infections 🤷🏻‍ AaronCSmith1 Surge in Pediatric Respiratory Viruses, Including RSV, Strains Children’s HospitalsPhysicians are reporting unseasonably high numbers of respiratory illnesses in kids, straining many children’s hospitals before the typically busier winter months Hospitals are worried about child RSV this year.PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- From doctor's offices to emergency departments to hospitals, pediatricians are swamped with young children with respiratory viruses, especially RSV, respiratory syncytial virus.DENVER — "This year we're seeing more RSV than we have in the previous two years," said Dr.On Wednesday, Shirleen Allicot discussed the crisis with Connecticut Children's Medical Center Physician-in-Chief Dr. Here’s what to know. “It’s very hard to find a bed in a children’s hospital — specifically an intensive care unit bed for a kid with bad pneumonia or bad RSV because they are so full,” said Jesse Hackell, a doctor who chairs the committee on practice and ambulatory medicine for the American Academy of Pediatrics. But it's also about the severity of the disease we're seeing. Advertisement federal health data ." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), RSV is a"common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Rhode Island, the District of Columbia and Delaware report more than 94 percent of pediatric beds occupied. Keren says. Maine, Arizona, Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Missouri reported between 85 and 90 percent of beds occupied. The data is limited to facilities that report the information. "Day by day, it was just figuring out -- like it felt like he wasn't going to get better for a while, and every day he was getting worse," Victoria Reish said of her son Lucas. Washington explained RSV's symptom range means it's imperative for parents to be highly responsive once a child tests positive for the virus. Several children’s hospitals in the D.C. He spent days in the hospital with RSV, just being released on Monday. area for weeks; 18 children were waiting for a room in the ICU on Tuesday at Children’s National in the District. Seek medical attention," Washington said. D. He was also getting some steroids to help with his wheezing as well," Josiah Reish said. C. Realtor Kate Foster-Bankey was more attuned to RSV after she started hearing from clients whose children were afflicted with the virus in recent weeks, including one whose child was admitted to Children’s National. Now, they want parents to keep an eye out for the signs of RSV, such as lethargy, fast breathing, and a lack of interest in eating or drinking. From Oct. Then her 3-year-old daughter Isabelle fell ill, becoming lethargic, complaining of a fast heartbeat and not eating. They waited two hours in the packed waiting room of a pediatric urgent care center where Foster-Bankey, a mother of four, was used to seeing only a handful of patients. Katie Lockwood, a CHOP primary care physician, says parents should make sure kids with respiratory viruses stay well hydrated. Advertisement During a follow-up visit Tuesday, Isabelle was transported by ambulance to the emergency room of a children’s hospital, where she tested positive for RSV and had to wait until the following morning for a bed. During the same time frame last year, there were 55 pediatric RSV hospitalizations. “It sounds like in covid, we gutted our pediatric care,” said Foster-Bankey, 41. Lockwood. “Kids shouldn’t have to wait in a waiting room with a bunch of other sick kids for hours.” At Connecticut Children’s Hospital, the emergency room is so full that patients are being triaged in hallways. Warm, humid air helps break up the mucus in the lungs during RSV, so time in the bathroom with a hot shower running in the background can help."Everyone was wearing masks and so forth, so it was not easy for RSV to spread. Teens with bone fractures and appendicitis are being diverted or transferred to adult-care centers to create additional space for respiratory patients. Hospital officials are considering the possibility of enlisting the help of the National Guard to set up tents and care for the influx of patients. Lockwood also says keeping up to date with shots for vaccine-preventable illnesses like influenza will help keep your child healthy and less vulnerable to RSV. Over the past nine days, 110 children with RSV have come in to the emergency room, and at times as many as 25 children with RSV were waiting for an inpatient bed, said Juan Salazar, physician in chief at Connecticut Children’s." A few simple steps can reduce transmission risks, according to Washington, including cleaning high-contact surfaces, frequent hand-washing, and avoiding touch without clean hands. He said that for the first time in his career he has had to mandate doctors in other specialties such as endocrinology and rheumatology work with RSV patients — a situation reminiscent of the “all hands on deck” approach many adult hospitals took in March 2020, when the coronavirus began to sweep through the United States. Dr. Advertisement “During my tenure here I haven’t seen anything like this,” said Salazar, who has worked in infectious diseases for 30 years. For decades, fear and failure in the hunt for an RSV vaccine. Now that there are large gatherings, and much less social distancing and masking, their reduced immunity puts them at greater risk. She said her granddaughter, Hope, came down with a persistent cough and fever during the first weekend of October. Now, success. Salazar and other doctors said one possible reason for the rise in RSV cases is that “pandemic babies” born in the past three years had been protected from respiratory pathogens due to social distancing and masking. They add that masking in public places can help too. Salazar said another theory suggests children exposed to covid-19 have weakened immune systems, even if they had asymptomatic or mild cases. Her heart went down to 40 beats per minute," she said. Even if babies had asymptomatic or mild cases, he said it’s possible that the percentage of infection-fighting B-cells might have dropped, creating “a certain level of immunosuppression” just as they are getting hit with a viral infection. According to ABC News, at least 23 states are now struggling with early outbreaks and overloaded ERs. “So the virus has found a very susceptible population and spread very quickly,” Salazar said. Advertisement Texas Children’s Hospital, the nation’s largest pediatric medical center, had more than 40 RSV inpatients as of Friday, with several children in intensive care. Pennsylvania says that while numbers are still low, they're still the highest in five years for this time period. Now, Hope is on the mend, but Schmidt hopes her granddaughter's story encourages others to take safety precautions. James Versalovic, pathologist in chief at Texas Children’s, said the surge of RSV outside of the typical season could be attributed to how different respiratory viruses interact with each other and how the pandemic changed children born in recent years. “Their immune systems and immunity may have been altered in ways that we’re just beginning to appreciate,” he said, adding that the pandemic has changed humankind’s “pattern of susceptibility to respiratory viruses. All Rights Reserved.” Hackell, of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said masking during the pandemic simply delayed the normal infection pattern for respiratory pathogens. “We are seeing a lot more cases at one time where they used to be spread out,” he said. Advertisement RSV, which mostly infected infants and toddlers before the pandemic, has now been seen in children older than 3, said Andrew Pavia, an infectious-disease expert at the University of Utah Health and Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital. Most RSV and other respiratory illness cases will not require hospitalizations. But when so many children are getting sick at once, even a small percentage requiring hospital care can exhaust beds. Elizabeth Murray, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at the University of Rochester-Golisano Children’s Hospital, said her hospital is seeing between 20 and 30 more patients a day because of the crush of respiratory illnesses. About a fifth of patients have RSV. Some are staying in the emergency department or post-surgical areas instead of getting a traditional room because the hospital is getting full. Advertisement “We have to use spaces a little more creatively,” Murray said. Marc Lashley, a pediatrician at New York’s Allied Physicians Group, one of the largest pediatric organizations in the country, said his pediatric practice is experiencing a busier fall because of rising RSV cases. “It is pretty labor intensive to keep them out of the hospital,” Lashley said, recommending parents keep sick children at home to reduce the spread of illness and the strain on the health-care system. “We don’t want children to live in a bubble, but we do want parents to be prudent if a child has cold symptoms, which is how RSV can start.” .