Sen. Schumer calls on feds to be ready to help if RSV cases overwhelm NYC, Long Island hospitals
NEW YORK -- Some doctors say the number of children being hospitalized in our area due to RSV is reaching a breaking point.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday called on the Department of Health and Human Services to be ready to intervene, CBS2's Lisa Rozner reported.
Schumer said some upstate New York hospitals need extra support right now, and he wants the feds to make arrangements now so that providers in our area can pull professionals from neighboring states like Pennsylvania if they need to.
Cohen Children's Medical Center at Northwell Health has added more than 75 pediatric beds, using every available space, to treat children having trouble breathing due to RSV, also known as respiratory synctial virus.
"Things are getting tight. Critical shortages of nurses and physicians around the country who are specialists in pediatric emergency medicine really challenge our ability to respond to this event," said Dr, Matthew Harris, medical director of Northwell Health Crisis Management.
Typically, the hospital sees 200 admissions per day, but in the last few weeks Dr. Charles Schleien, the chair of pediatrics, says they're seeing 300 per day. In his nearly 40 years of practicing, he says he's never seen a surge like this.
READ MORE: Pediatric hospitalizations spiking on Long Island as RSV surge continues
"These babies that were born over the last year, year and a half probably did not have a rise in antibodies. That may be one of the reasons," Schleien said.
Some doctors are calling the current situation a "tripledemic," since symptoms are similar to COVID and the flu and those cases are also on the rise.
That's why Schumer called on HHS to be at the ready to send additional medical staff from other states, provide additional breathing equipment if needed, and help medical providers expand the use of telehealth.
"Doctors can see many more patients online, one after the other without the patients coming into the emergency room, and telehealth can also ensure worried parents speak to a provider right away," Schumer said.
Dr. Muneeb Khan at MiDoctor Urgent Care says severe symptoms that he may refer someone to hospital for include fever, wheezing, difficulty breathing and a blueish discoloration of the skin on the lips and nails due to low levels of oxygen.
"Common symptoms include nasal congestion, dry cough, sore throat, headaches, sneezing. If you have RSV, you can contract COVID," Khan said.
He says testing is key and with one nasal swab the team can test for RSV, COVID, and about a dozen other viruses that can cause the common cold.
CBS2 reached out to HHS for comment on Schumer's proposal, but did not hear back.
The Centers for Disease Control says only about percent of children younger than 6 months are hospitalized for RSV. Doctors say the overwhelming majority of children hospitalized for RSV do make a full recovery.