Flu and RSV surge forces North Texans to pause holiday celebrations
DALLAS — Christmas looked different for the Haro family, who spent part of their holiday week at the hospital after their 1-year-old daughter, Stella, was diagnosed with RSV.
"We haven't been able to sleep, it's not festive at all, we haven't been able to rest," said father Juan Haro.
RSV, or Respiratory Syncytial Virus, is a respiratory virus common among young children. Haro said after Stella got sick last week, his other daughter, Natalia, caught the infection too.
"She kept coughing, and my wife decided that it was better to take [Stella] to Cook's Children. We just didn't know what else to do, you know?" Haro said.
On Sunday, health experts at Children's Health Hospitals in DFW sounded the alarm. Doctors said flu and RSV cases have soared in the last week. Four hundred sixty-nine Influenza A cases have been reported at Children's hospitals, a nearly 70 percent increase from the week before. Five hundred seventy-four RSV cases have also been reported, along with 36 patients with COVID-19.
"Our RSV cases have been a little more significant in terms of the respiratory symptoms and lasting a little longer, even in healthy people," said Dr. Preeti Sharma, a pediatric pulmonologist at Children's Health and associate professor at UT Southwestern. "I think that we are seeing some more cases of flu that have more fever and prolonged symptoms."
Dr. Sharma believes holiday gatherings are causing the sharp increase and will get worse with New Year's celebrations and when kids return to school. For Haro, his biggest holiday wish is for his girls to get healthy again. "It's been a nightmare, but we're working through it," he told CBS News Texas.
Health experts say the best thing to do if you have symptoms is to stay at home and rest, but also to see a doctor if those symptoms become more severe. "Things that are going to be of concern are very high fevers, difficulty breathing, signs of dehydration," Sharma added.
According to the Dallas County Health Department, officials have seen an increase in flu activity, but experts say cases are not yet at peak levels compared to prior seasons.
The DCHD says 12.5% of Influenza tests returned positive during the week ending Dec. 21, and 50 Influenza-associated hospitalizations were reported.
The department also says 28.1% of RSV tests returned positive in the county during the week ending Dec. 21. Health experts say that trend is still a high level of RSV activity, but it is decreasing from what they have seen in the past few weeks.
