Cook Children's is seeing up to 700 patients a day as RSV cases increase

FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) -- Cook Children's Emergency Department and Urgent Care facilities are "overwhelmed" as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases are spiking higher and earlier this year. 

"We're seeing, in our emergency room, over 500 patients a day," said Dr. Laura Romano, a pediatric hospitalist at Cook Children's Medical Center. "Our urgent cares are seeing 600 to 700 patients a day, which is a child being checked in to see a provider every 1 to 2 minutes." 

It's resulting in longer wait times for everyone. 

"Please don't come to the emergency room if you're only looking for a test," she said. "If you want to know whether your child has RSV or the flu, and they're only showing mild symptoms – low grade fevers, runny nose, stuffy nose, they're maintain their hydration, eating well, drinking well – please don't come to the emergency room."

It will free up resources for the patients who need help the most, like 4-month-old Lindy Green. She is hospitalized at Cook Children's with RSV. 

"It's been a pretty bad experience," said her dad, Jeff Green. "She's just really lethargic. She was sleeping pretty much nonstop, started running a pretty significant fever." 

Lindy is one of more than 280 patients who've been diagnosed with RSV in the past week, which is nearly quadruple what it was this time last year, according to numbers from Cook Children's. 

For many kids, RSV looks like a common cold, with a runny nose, cough, and fever.  

It can cause severe symptoms, like breathing difficulties and pneumonia, for babies, children with underlying medical conditions, and the elderly. 

RSV typically peaks later in the winter, around early December, and stays high until January. 

"The fact that this surge is happening now is concerning that it could get worse," said Dr. Romano. "We're not sure how long it's going to last. We're not sure what a peak is going to be or what that peak will look like when we hit it." 

Dr. Romano believes the unusual timing of the surge is related to the pandemic. Last year, more people were wearing masks and children were more likely to stay home while sick. 

"A lot more kids who were maybe staying at home for the past two years to avoid being exposed to COVID, are now being exposed to RSV, to rhinovirus, to the flu – sometimes for the first time – and they're bringing it home to their siblings, their parents, their neighbors, and the rest of their family," she said. 

Children's Health in Dallas is also seeing an early spike in cases, reporting that 349 patients tested positive for RSV this past week as compared to 84 during the same time period last year. 

Dr. Romano says keeping sick kids at home, instead of sending them to school or daycare, is key to preventing the spread of RSV and other viruses.  Hand hygiene is important too. 

What are the symptoms of RSV? 

In infants younger than six months, RSV infection may result in symptoms of irritability, poor feeding, lethargy, and/or episodes where they stop breathing with or without fever. 

In older infants and young children, a runny nose and decreased appetite may appear one to three days before cough, often followed by sneezing, fever, and sometimes wheezing. RSV, COVID, and the flu can all worsen a child's asthma and lead to an increase in asthma symptoms such as wheezing, waking up at night coughing, and shortness of breath. 

Symptoms in adults are typically consistent with upper respiratory tract infections, including runny nose, sore throat, cough, headache, fatigue, and fever. RSV can be a very serious illness for anyone who is immunocompromised. But for most children, it is a minor upper respiratory infection. 

If parents begin to see any RSV symptoms in their child, it is important to keep them well hydrated. 

Call your pediatrician if: 

• You are concerned that your child might have been exposed to either the flu, RSV, or COVID. 
• If you need to have your child tested for RSV, the flu, or COVID. 
• If your child is experiencing mild respiratory symptoms but is not having difficulty breathing and is well-hydrated. 

Seek immediate medical care if: 

• Persistent fever for more than two or three days. However, any temperature greater than 100.4 in an infant under two months of age is considered a medical emergency. 
•  Concerns for dehydration. 
•  In dehydrated babies, parents will see fewer wet diapers or a lack of tears. Their flat spot can also appear more sunken. 
• Breathing faster than usual or can see the skin between the ribs being sucked in. 
• If your child is requiring frequent use of their albuterol rescue inhaler or is having worsening asthma symptoms.