A winter epidemic is looming as RSV is to blame. But this time, health experts say it’s children who are most at risk.
“This is all due to RSV, not to COVID. There are long lines at the emergency department, urgent care and the ICU beds and the regular hospital beds are packed to capacity,” said UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong.
Chin-Hong added that this may just be the beginning as he said the RSV season is five months long and we’re in month one.
But the virus is so widespread this year that it’s forcing the UCSF children's hospitals in Oakland and San Francisco to cut back on other services, just like early COVID.
“The RSV surge right now in pediatric population is leading to cancellations of elective surgeries, cancellations of elective surgeries, cancellations of things that are more routine and can wait,” Chin-Hong said.
Chin-Hong told NBC Bay Area Thursday that another big problem is the limited number of pediatric beds in most hospitals, meaning as more children show up with the virus, hospitals may need to find other places to put them.
“I think what you may see next in the Bay Area is a similar emergency declaration, where adult beds may be used to take care of pediatric populations if it continues like this,” Chin-Hong said.
Other health experts including the CDC said adult hospitalizations are also starting to creep up due to RSV, COVID and the flu.
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Recent charts showed just how bad the flu season is in the Bay Area and across California. One chart showed influenza cases are higher this year compared to prior years.
So how do we protect to the children this winter?
“Unfortunately, for the RSV virus, we do not have a vaccine yet, it's coming,” said Darvin Smith, chief of infectious disease at Kaiser. “But we do have flu vaccine and COVID vaccine that most kids are eligible for taking. They really should get that in order to prevent complications of respiratory viral infections.”
The other bit of good news is that hospitals can generally help treat Children’s RSV symptoms quickly, just as long as they have enough room to do so.
