With COVID and Flu Still a Concern, Pediatric RSV Cases Are at a Crisis Point

Respiratory syncytial virus is running rampant from coast to coast, to the point that RSV hospitalizations outnumber COVID-19 in children by a 10 to one ratio in at least one hospital, according to an article published by the New York Post. It goes on to note that the virus is causing a “capacity disaster” in the words of the head of the pediatric department at Massachusetts General for Children. The pediatric ICU there is at capacity, and some nonemergency surgeries are being delayed. And Boston Children’s Hospital has been overcapacity for over a month, according to the article. Meanwhile, 19 News Cleveland reports that RSV and influenza cases are surging, with COVID-19 creeping up at facilities like Lakewood (OH) Urgent Care. Consequently, combination tests are being employed more frequently than rapid flu tests there. University Hospitals relayed that one out of every three children who present with cough and fever are ultimately diagnosed with RSV. Meanwhile, at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health in California, half of overall pediatric hospitalizations are due to RSV, with flu and COVID accounting for another 10% each according to an article published by the Pleasanton Weekly. Perhaps most ominous, given that we’re only in mid-November, is the fact that RSV cases typically peak in winter.