Cook Children's 'overwhelmed' as RSV cases are spiking higher, earlier
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.
In a news release from the healthcare system, officials said RSV infects the lungs and breathing passage ways, and "can range from mild upper respiratory tract infections to severe lower respiratory tract disease, including bronchiolitis or pneumonia."
Cook Children's officials say the increase in RSV and influenza A is happening much earlier this year and that, as a result, their Emergency Department and Urgent Care facilities are seeing hundreds of children each day. Subsequently, the early spike is resulting in longer wait times.
Officials say RSV is a very common respiratory virus and though some children require hospitalization, most do not.
Laura Romano, a hospitalist at Cook Children's, urges parents to keep their children at home when they are sick to prevent the spread, unless the following symptoms are present:
- Persistent fever for more than two or three days
- Any temperature greater than 100.4 in an infant under two months of age
- Fewer wet diapers or a lack of tears in babies
- Breathing faster than usual or the skin between the ribs looks to be sucked in
- More frequent use of their inhaler or worsening asthma symptoms
What are the symptoms of RSV?
Infants younger than six months
- Irritability, poor feeding, lethargy, and/or episodes where they stop breathing with or without a fever
Older infants and young children
- Runny nose and decreased appetite may appear one to three days before cough, often followed by sneezing, fever, and sometimes wheezing
Adults
- Runny nose, sore throat, cough, headache, fatigue, and fever
Parents who begin to see any RSV symptoms in their child are advised to keep them well hydrated.
