children’s hospital in Louisiana Responding to rapid increase in enrollment ER visit with a handful of respiratory viruses. It’s not uncommon to see viruses spike as the weather gets colder, but it’s rare to deal with so many at once, leading to hospitals full of sick children.
Dr. Mark Klein, Chief Physician at Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, said: “We are staying at capacity.”
Hospitals are observing an unusual swarm of these viruses. Rhinoviruses and enteroviruses, which usually cause cold-related symptoms, are responsible for most illnesses. The two viruses are indistinguishable from each other by tests used by most hospitals. Testing for these viruses at Children’s has a 40% chance of being positive. This is an “extraordinary number”.
It’s even higher in Baton Rouge, about 50 percent, according to Dr. Michael Bolton, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Our Lady of the Lake. The Acadiana area has yet to see a similar rise, but there is a sense that it is inevitable.
Families gather outside the Children’s Hospital vaccine bus in the Rouses parking lot on Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans on Wednesday, August 31, 2022.
“Kids are going to school with their masks off and the virus is all around them, so expect it soon,” said Scott Hamilton, medical director of Oxner Lafayette General’s pediatric emergency room.
The Centers for Disease Control and Infection issued a health advisory on the increase earlier this month. Further testing showed an increase in a particular strain of enterovirus called D-68, which causes polio-like paralysis. Children of New Orleans have yet to see a case.
Influenza A is also showing up earlier and in greater numbers than usual, with about 19% of tests in children returning positive. Adenovirus, another cold- and flu-like illness, appears in about 1 in 10 children with children.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) also plagues children and worries parents. Although enteroviruses and rhinoviruses are the most commonly diagnosed, children with RSV are more likely to be admitted to her ICU, Bolton said. Her recent number of RSV-positive retests in her OLOL is about 1 for him in 5 for her.
Doctors say the only silver lining is that COVID cases currently remain low among children, though it’s unclear if that will continue over the winter. I get a positive test for COVID. At its peak last summer, it was about 30%.
“I can’t imagine being more full.”
The recent surge in illness has outpaced previous COVID increases. July 2021, Children’s hospital saw surge in hospitalizations due to COVIDIt’s more fulfilling now than it was then.
“Last summer, when the hospitalization hit 160, we felt full. This afternoon’s census is 182,” Klein said Thursday.
And it’s not just Louisiana. Children’s hospitals in Birmingham, Atlanta and Texas are also full, Klein said.
The pediatric system is hit with a high volume of viruses at once when hospitals are typically preparing staff to care for patients during winter, the busiest season for patients.
“Children are constantly exposed to and infected by several of these over time,” Klein said.
The influx of patients can lead to staff fatigue, as many hospital staff have experienced over the past few years. Hospitals are typically looking forward to a milder summer to regroup for the respiratory virus season from October through spring.
“When you’re out all the time, standing, at the patient’s bedside, you’re like, ‘This is what worked today, this is what I can do. Tomorrow will be better,'” Bolton said. Instead, workers are trying to get through the day knowing they’ll have to return to the same busy day tomorrow.
It’s not clear what caused the spike, but a return to pre-pandemic habits of not wearing masks once school started may be a contributing factor. Lack of immunity due to reduced exposure to the virus over the past few years may also play a role.
“At this point, we kind of have a cohort of young children who haven’t had these viruses in the last few years,” Klein said. I’m finding a friendly host.”
Pediatricians recommend staying for children Updates on their vaccinationsincluding COVID-19 and flu vaccinations.
