HARTFORD, Conn. — As children's hospitals in Connecticut reach ICU bed capacity from a surge in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases, one Connecticut mom shared how her infant is weathering the illness.
Doctors say, don’t panic. RSV is nothing new and most kids who get it do just fine at home. But there is no vaccine and we are seeing a major surge.
“It’s very scary,” said Catherine Morgan, a Meriden mom whose son Grant is just 2 months old. “Respiratory distress is very concerning. He has such little lungs and can’t really breathe. Has a lot of mucus buildup.”
A few days ago Grant spiked a fever of 101F and had a small divot in his chest. Grant was rushed to Connecticut Children’s.
“Within four hours he was using his whole body to breathe,” explained Morgan. “It makes me tear up thinking about it.”
Morgan described the intense scene inside the hospital.
“Once we got inside, there's gurneys throughout the hallways with families just waiting for a room,” Morgan said.
“We have every available bed being used.” Dr. Ian Michelow, the head of infectious disease for Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, confirmed to FOX61.
Connecticut Children’s is in preliminary talks with the National Guard to set up a field hospital, and they’ve already implemented a plan to surge capacity.
“We're asking for volunteers to help us and we are hiring additional people to work after hours,” said Dr. Michelow.
First COVID and now RSV is stressing pediatric care to its limits at a time when many practitioners have already left.
“This is an increased number of patients with a system that was already having some cracks and I think it’s exposing more of those cracks,” remarked Dr. Marc Auerbach, a professor of pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine.
Auerbach told FOX61 that nobody who needs critical care will be turned away.
“We’re really all hands on deck,” Auerbach said.
But a lack of pediatric ICU beds means that patients are having to stay in the emergency room longer.
“Most of our hospitals are beyond 100% capacity," Auerbach said. "The real concerning thing with this surge is the capacity in the intensive care unit and emergency department where the life-saving treatments are really time sensitive and when we are beyond capacity, sometimes that could really lead to delays.”
If RSV cases continue to spike at the same time as flu and COVID, it could create a "tri-demic", where hospital capacity would need to be expanded.
As for baby Grant, there’s some good news. His family said he’s scheduled to be released from the hospital very soon.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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