BY CARRIE HODOUSEK
CHARLESTON — West Virginia health officials say they’re starting to see overcrowding in children’s hospitals in connection with a rise in Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) cases.
More than 70% of pediatric ICU beds are full nationwide and West Virginia’s three main children’s hospitals are not far behind.
Doctors at WVU Children’s in Morgantown, Charleston Area Medical Center Women and Children’s Hospital and Hoops Family Children’s Hospital in Huntington are trying to free up resources by moving older children to adult units where appropriate.
“There’s patients waiting for beds in the emergency department that we’re caring for, the ICUs are full across the state on a consistent basis, so it’s been a challenging time,” Dr. John Frohna, chair of the department of pediatrics at CAMC, told MetroNews on Tuesday.
It’s unclear if most of those ICU visits are tied to RSV, COVID-19 or the flu. Acting state Health Officer Dr. Ayne Amjad said they don’t have clear data on RSV case numbers statewide like they do with influenza or COVID, but they are seeing an impact compared to last year at this time.
“There’s a concern because flu cases are expected to rise this winter compared to last year. With those three — COVID, RSV, influenza — there is a little bit of a concern that we’ll see higher than definitely the last two years,” Amjad said.
What’s being referred to by doctors as a “tripledemic” can cause some confusion because the symptoms of COVID, RSV and flu are similar.
Frohna said parents should seek medical attention if their child has trouble breathing.
“I think the main thing parents should look out for is breathing difficulty so things like increased cough, increased rate of breathing,” he said.
Other symptoms of RSV include irritability, decreased appetite, runny nose and high fever.
Frohna said they’re seeing more RSV cases at Women and Children’s Hospital earlier in the year.
“Normally we see RSV season with respiratory surges from November to March- April. So this year, coming out of the pandemic, it’s been more prominent here in the fall,” he said.
There is also an ongoing staffing shortage in hospitals that Frohna said is making matters worse.
“There are fewer nurses, so some of our bed constraints are because of a nursing shortage,” he said.
Amjad said there is a silver lining. The state is seeing fewer COVID-19 cases. On Tuesday, the DHHR reported 773 active cases statewide.
“The good news is there’s less cases, but on the flip side of that we’re seeing less testing as well,” she said.
West Virginia reported nine new COVID deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total number of deaths above 7,500.
Amjad is encouraging families to receive their COVID-19 and flu shots if they haven’t already.
