Children’s hospitals across the country have been stretched to capacity in the face of early onset respiratory viruses, adding cases of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, COVID-19 and flu in recent weeks.
More than three-quarters of pediatric hospital beds nationwide are full, according to the knowledge of the Department of Health and Human Services. More than a dozen states across the country report that more than 90 of their pediatric beds are occupied, adding Massachusetts, Texas and Pennsylvania.
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“From October to the first two weeks of November, we were at over 90 percent capacity,” said Dr. Brown. Charlotte Boney, chief of pediatrics at Baystate Children’s Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts. “But last week we saw a kind of pause “We had decreased to about 75% capacity. Our intensive care unit was still full and closed for transfers abroad from outside the region, but our acute care unit had a little more capacity. “
Boney said other hospitals in Massachusetts are experiencing similar levels of capacity, with extensive pediatric care suites remaining closed or at full capacity. Most of those cases are children with RSV or some other respiratory virus, hospitals are preparing for a construction in the flu already noticed in neighboring Connecticut.
Other parts of the country are experiencing a sharp increase in the number of flu cases for this time of year, especially in the south, combined with a large number of pediatric respiratory viruses, such as RSV, rhinovirus and enterovirus, which began to increase in September.
“We’re concerned about what the demand for influenza hospitalizations will be because it’s pretty severe in the Southeast and South,” Boney said. “We’re preparing, you know, looking to be ready to have to develop our capacity our current number of beds. “
In addition to influenza and respiratory viruses, children’s hospitals are seeing cases of COVID-19, as well as other fitness issues, adding intellectual fitness and adding to the call to flood emergency rooms and units.
So far this season, there have been about 4. 4 million flu cases, 38,000 hospitalizations and 2,100 deaths, adding seven pediatric deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. , followed by young people under the age of five.
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Children’s hospital capacity disruptions are not expected to subside until after winter due to respiratory viruses, influenza and COVID-19, according to a representative of the Children’s Hospital Association.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association have suggested Biden’s management consider an emergency declaration in light of the strain on children’s hospitals. The declaration would give hospitals more flexibility to manage patient influxes and lose federal resources.