Sinai doctor advises on ways to prevent overwhelming hospitals with RSV patients

BALTIMORE - Respiratory Syncytial Virus, also known as RSV, is putting a strain on healthcare workers.

Combine RSV, flu and COVID-19 cases – the triple-demic – hospitals across the country are feeling overwhelmed.

But as RSV, a respiratory condition targeting young children, continue to rise in Maryland, doctors say there are things you can do at home to give healthcare workers relief.

Young children who have flooded their emergency rooms are primarily dealing with RSV.

On Tuesday, Baltimore's Sinai Hospital had 80 children come through their doors with the virus.

Doctors now encourage parents to seek a pediatrician first, and use at-home remedies, including saline sprays and humidifiers, to help their sick child.

"People are getting tired, the emergency room physicians are getting tired, we're appealing to pediatricians out in the community to come and help out in the emergency room," said Dr. Aziza Shad, from Sinai Hospital. "We've stopped elective surgeries, particularly orthopedic surgeries, so that we can have more beds for the children that come in. But the nurses are exhausted too, and as far as I'm concerned, and I think this is just the beginning because we haven't even hit winter yet."

Dr. Shad said that at one time, there were 200 children visiting the emergency room, and about 35 more waiting to be seen in the waiting room.

"If the child is actively drooling, coughing or has a runny nose, maybe you can consider masking to protect the others," Dr. Shad said. "Handwashing, there is no substitute for handwashing and keeping the surfaces clean and trying to keep sick kids away from the, well kids, for the time being is what I think would probably help the most."

Dr. Shad is also challenging to state of Maryland to provide more funding for hospitals that could open more beds, but more importantly, make sure that supply chains remain intact.