'Most helpless feeling,' Boston hospitals overwhelmed with RSV cases
BOSTON - Hospitals are scrambling to care for hundreds of young patients amid an unprecedented surge in RSV cases.
"It's the most helpless feeling in the world," said mother Jackie Lyman.
What started out as a head cold for four-month-old Wesley Lyman turned into a week-long hospital stay at Boston Children's, struggling to breathe after being diagnosed with RSV. A severe respiratory virus that targets the nose, throat and lungs.
"The way he was belly breathing, his neck was kind of caving in," his mom Jackie Lyman said. "That was the worst. That was the thing that sent me to the ER."
Finding a hospital bed his mom says was sheer luck. "They called everywhere. They called up in Maine, they called up in Dartmouth, Philadelphia, New York," Lyman said.
That's what pediatric doctors across the state are up against.
"We check in at 5 a.m. for every pediatric ICU and usually the available beds is zero," said Dr. Brian Cummings, Medical Director of Pediatrics for MGH.
The respiratory illness is surging among the smallest of patients. The month of October saw 2,000 cases of RSV at Mass General. The first week of November, 1,000 cases with 250 hospitalizations.
Doctors say not all children will need to be hospitalized, but it's still a nerve-racking virus to battle at home.
Revere mother Laura Colleran is relieved to be on the other side of RSV.
"At a couple points, they coughed so bad that they were throwing up," Colleran said. "You could hear the cough. They were wheezing and it was very scary."
Her three toddlers came down with RSV after Halloween festivities.
"Definitely keep your children home if they have a horrible cough or if they're not feeling well," Colleran said. "It's not worth the risk to the other kids."
And with the holidays just weeks away, doctors are worried they won't have enough resources.
"Even if just 10% of those need hospitalization, it creates a lot of stress on healthcare facilities," said Dr. Cummings.
Doctors say it's too soon to tell when this virus will level off, especially at the height of flu season.