MGH doctors say unprecedented surge in RSV cases leaving hospitals 'stressed every day'
BOSTON – Mass General Brigham doctors said they are dealing with an unprecedented surge in the respiratory illness known as RSV, likely as a result of precautions taken during the COVID pandemic.
The illness impacts the nose, throat and lungs. There has been a severe rise in cases not seen in some time, particularly among children. Cases began surging in mid-October, which is earlier than usual.
Alexy Arauz Boudreau, associate chief of pediatrics for primary care at Mass General for Children, said that is likely due to mitigations that were put in place during the COVID pandemic.
The precautions disrupted viral transmission, doctors said, leading to unusual spread patterns and not as many peaks in cases. Doctors believe there is a lack of population immunity for RSV, so many younger children have never seen the infection. Now that RSV is circulating, many more people are susceptible.
"Over the last two years, our children really haven't been exposed to routine viruses," Arauz Boudreau said during a Thursday press conference. "Now that they're no longer masking or social distancing, their immune systems are encountering new viruses and responding the way we typically expect it to respond."
Adults can also get RSV, but the patients most often needing hospitalization are young children.
Mass General saw 2,000 cases of RSV in October, and over 1,000 cases in the first week of November. Most children do not require hospitalization for RSV, but there have been over 250 hospitalizations at Mass General alone.
"It's been escalating and it's been quite severe," Brian Cummings, the medical director for the Department of Pediatrics at Mass General for Children said. "We are stressed every day."
As a result, there has been an impact on the availability of hospital beds. Some hospitals have not been able to receive or transfer patients because emergency rooms and intensive care units are being stretched to the limit.
Paul Biddinger, chief preparedness and continuity officer at Mass General Brigham, said wait times ER wait times are "nearing historic highs" around state. The average wait time varies based on time of day, but there have been recent reports of wait times nearing eight hours at some emergency rooms.
Biddinger said there are signs the RSV surge is leveling off, but added it is too soon to tell for sure.
"Normally we have not seen an RSV season start this early in the year, and it's much more severe than it would be even later in the winter if it were more typical timing," Biddinger said. "I think we're in uncharted territory. We do expect there will be some waning of RSV hopefully in the coming weeks, maybe month, but we are also concerned because influenza is rapidly rising to the south of us and probably will be increasing here in Massachusetts and new England pretty soon."
Doctors urged people to wash their hands and clean surfaces in an effort to prevent the spread of RSV. They also encourage people to get vaccinated against any virus they are eligible for.
