Doctors are calling on the Biden administration to declare an emergency in response to an 'alarming surge' of children hospitalized with RSV and flu this season.
"We need emergency funding support and flexibilities along the same lines of what was provided to respond to COVID surges," they wrote.The surge in kids falling ill with respiratory viruses comes amid staffing shortages as many health care workers have switched careers or retired due to pandemic-era burnout. There also are large numbers of children being hospitalized for mental issues which is also straining capacity.
Senior U.S. health officials, in a call with reporters earlier this month, said the federal government is working with state and local partners to ease capacity issues at hospitals as respiratory illnesses surge. Dawn O'Connell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response, said federal health teams and medical supplies in the national stockpile are available for states when needed. So far, no state has requested this level of support, O'Connell said.
Romero, during a call with reporters earlier this month, said many children did not get infected with RSV over the past two years due to the Covid health precautions. As a consequence, many kids did not develop any immunity and are catching the virus for the first time. The first infection tends to be more severe.
The hospital's emergency department has set up a tent outside to see patients. Staff that typically don't work in the emergency room are taking hours there to help out, and the primary clinic is also adding hours to help ease the pressure, he said. More than 80% of the beds at Children's Healthcare Atlanta have been full for the past several months, said Dr. Andi Shane, head of epidemiology at the hospital. RSV began circulating during the summer months and then surged in early September, Shane said. Then more children started falling with the flu in early October as RSV cases started to decline, she said.
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