Array
Children with a specific respiratory illness have been overwhelming hospitals, mainly in the Southern and Northeastern areas of the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported recent data showing Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) cases have spiked over the past month. RSV usually causes children to contract the usual mild-cold symptoms, but the impact could be much worse for those immunocompromised or with a heart defect.
“We have observed a rise in RSV in multiple U.S. regions, and some regions are nearing seasonal peak levels,” a CDC spokesperson told NBC News.
Dr. Juan Salazar, the physician-in-chief of Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, told The Hill that cases began exponentially rising at the beginning of September, which he claims is something he has never seen before.
Young children with the virus have swamped the Hartford-based hospital, with staff debating whether to call in the U.S. National Guard and FEMA for support.
“We just don’t have as many critical care beds [for children] as we have adult critical care beds simply because we don’t usually need them,” Salazar said, according to The Hill.
