In Boston, RSV cases in children create a ‘capacity disaster’ for one major hospital
One of the country’s leading hospitals announced Thursday, November 10, that it is at capacity and reducing the number of elective surgeries due to an unusually high number of patients with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Another nearby hospital has similar problems.
Massachusetts General for Children, located in Boston, said there were more than 1,000 reported cases of RSV in the first 10 days of November. In the entire month of October, there were about 2,000 reported cases of RSV.
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RSV is causing a “capacity disaster,” Brian Cummings, medical director of pediatrics at Massachusetts General for Children, said at a news conference Thursday afternoon, as reported by Boston 25 News.
Cummings said that this year’s RSV cases are about “20% to 60% higher” than a typical fall—and that winter, not fall, is usually the worst-hit season for RSV.
Typical symptoms of RSV include a stuffy nose, congestion, cough and fever.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that almost every child contracted RSV before the age of two, and most cases are mild. Typical symptoms of RSV include a stuffy nose, congestion, cough and fever.
Some children who get RSV need hospitalization.
“Even if only 10% require hospitalization, that puts a lot of stress on health care facilities,” Cummings said at a news conference Thursday. “We’ve had more than 250 hospitalizations for RSV alone in addition to other circulating viruses.”
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Cummings said RSV causes “very severe respiratory disease in young children,” which creates difficulty breathing or worsens asthma.
He added that there are currently no pediatric intensive care beds available at the hospital and that there are “seven patients who are out of the intensive care unit and would otherwise be moved to the intensive care unit”.
A mother examines her sick daughter’s throat. RSV “can cause inflammation in the lungs. It can cause an infection in the lungs like pneumonia.”
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dr. Janette Neshewiat, a Fox News medical contributor based in New York, recently told Fox News Digital of RSV, “This is a virus that can cause inflammation in the lungs. It can cause an infection in the lungs like pneumonia.”
“The younger you are when you are infected, the more likely you are to have a more acute form.”
She added, “And what we’re seeing now is that it’s causing about 60,000 hospitalizations for children every year. For every three children [who] are hospitalized with COVIDwe see up to 30 hospitalized with RSV.”
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The number of children with respiratory illnesses “spiked through the entire month of October,” Cummings said — “putting a huge strain on pediatric health care.”
There are currently no pediatric intensive care beds available at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children in Boston.
(REUTERS/Brian Snyder)
As a result, some non-emergency operations are being postponed to free up doctors and hospital space for emergency treatment.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many children who would have contracted RSV did not because people stayed home and took other mitigation efforts, Cummings said.
“What’s happened in the last two years with COVID is that a lot of mitigation of the pandemic has disrupted the normal transmission of the virus,” he said.
“A lot of RSV hasn’t been spreading in the previous two years.”
“If at any point it looks like your baby isn’t breathing well at all, just take her to the emergency room.”
“Now that it’s circulating a little bit more, there are usually a lot more people susceptible to infection. The younger you are when you get infected, the more likely you are to have a more acute form,” Cummings said Thursday.
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He explained that “the youngest patients are at the highest risk of needing hospitalization,” especially those under the age of one—and that those hospital stays tend to be short.
Most cases of RSV can be treated at home with fluids, rest, and fever control, but some cases require hospital treatment.
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Boston Children’s Hospital is also facing similar capacity issues as Massachusetts General Hospital for Children.
“Boston Children’s Hospital has been overcapacity for nearly six weeks on average due to RSV, seasonal illnesses and the ongoing health crisis,” the hospital said in a statement cited by Boston 25 News.
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“We anticipate that the numbers will continue to increase as we move into the winter months, so we are using alternative care spaces when needed. These are spaces we have used many times before,” the hospital also said.
All serious breathing problems require immediate evaluation, doctors say.
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“If your child starts to develop respiratory distress, is breathing faster than usual, that belly goes in and out with every breath, the skin between his ribs is suctioned with every breath – that’s when he needs to be seen by a doctor as soon as possible,” she told Fox News recently. Dr. Laura Romano of Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
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“Get them to urgent care. Get them to the emergency room,” she added.
“If at any point it looks like your baby isn’t breathing well at all, just take her to the emergency room.”
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