Judy: Covid is still infecting
hundreds of thousands of
Americans every week.
Flu season is underway and there
is a third virus surging,
causing physicians to worry
about a potential tri-demic this
winter.
John yang has the details.
John: Judy, in an effort to
encourage more people to get the
updated covid vaccine, president
Biden rolled up his sleeve today
to get jabbed.
But pediatric hospitals across
the country are struggling to
deal with cases of another virus
-- rsv, or respiratory syncytial
virus.
Dr. Juan Salazar is
physician-in-chief at
Connecticut children's medical
center in Hartford and head of
pediatrics at the university of
Connecticut medical school.
Thank you for joining us.
I read where you describe the
situation at Connecticut
children's medical center as an
emergency.
What is it like there right now?
Dr. Salazar: Thanks, John, for
having me with you.
Indeed, we are seeing a
tremendous rise in the number of
cases of rsv in children.
I have been doing this here at
Connecticut children's for 25
years and I have never seen a
surge like the one we're seeing
right now.
I can tell you that as of thth
time, we have 18 kids that are
in the emergency department that
have been receiving care
obviously by us, waiting to come
into one of our beds.
Our units are full, our
intensive care unit is full.
We are creating a new step down
to provide the care for the
kids.
And this is just something that
I haven't seen before, started
about three weeks ago and it has
persisted.
So we are concerned obviously
, providing the care.
And I can tell you that this is
very similar to what other
children's hospitals are seeing
throughout the nation.
John: How much of a strain is
this putting on the medical
center?
Dr. Salazar: It is difficult.
Obviously, you know, we have
some health care heroes, our
nurses, respiratory therapists,
our pediatric residents,
emergency medicine personnel,
our doctors.
And everyone is working
overtime.
For the first time in my history
as the chair of the department,
the division chief, I've had to
require people that are in other
specialties to be able to
provide care in the emergency
department to be able to handle
the surge.
This is a difficult situation
after 2.5 years of covid that
were complicated for all of us.
This has put additional strain
on the health care team come on
the patients on the parents.
, And we're doing our best of
course but it is very
, complicated for all of us.
John: What does rsv look like
and how is it treated?
Dr. Salazar: For the majority of
children, it will manifest like
a common cold, which is what it
is.
The runny nose, a little bit of
a cough, maybe low grade fever
for a couple of days and then
they get better.
But in some children, especially
those that are under under the
age of six months or kids that
have other underlying conditions
such as congenital heart disease
cystic fibrosis, lung disease or
, extreme prematurity, it can
have a really nasty component
which develops into viral
pneumonia, classically called
bronchialitis.
And what that means is that the
very small airways that the
children have, get plugged with
mucus as a result of the
response to the virus.
And in those cases, children can
get very sick and have
difficulty breathing, difficulty
feeding, very high fever,
respiratory distress.
When that happens, obviously a
parent should talk to the
pediatrician and if it's in
greater distress, they should
bring him immediately for care
in one of our emergency rooms we
can actually provide oxygen and
supportive care for the kids.
John: Are you worried about a
convergence -- covid, seasonal
flu, rsv?
Are you worried about this
winter?
Dr. Salazar: I am, of course.
Rsv is going to continue
probably in the U.S. For the
next two to four weeks.
We're not at the peak yet.
I think we're probably one or
two weeks away from that peak.
And unfortunately, what comes at
the tail end of rsv is a
beginning or the rise of
influenza cases, which is a much
more severe disease for children
than adults.
So I do worry that unless we get
vaccinated for influenza, which
is something that can be done
immediately, go to the
pediatrician for any kid over
the age of six months
to get we will have a
, convergence of influenza and
rsv.
And to cap it off,
unfortunately, but what we
predict is that variants of
covid-19 will come in at the
tail end of that exactly how
that will affect the pediatric
population is less well known.
But we're in for a few weeks of
some difficulties here.
So I urge parents that are
listening to this really take
, this opportunity immediately
right away to take your six
month old and above and get them
vaccinated against influenza,
get yourself vaccinated.
It is a very effective vaccine.
This year it matches the virus
pretty well.
So it's going to be even more
effective.
So that's my message to all of
you.
Be not afraid.
Do not panic.
Be sensible.
Be careful.
I think if you do those things
we'll get through this.
,John: Also the message to
parents, with all of these bugs
flying around, how can a parent
know whether it is rsv?
I also want to underscore your
message, when should a parent
take a child to the emergency
room?
Dr. Salazar: I wouldn't be too
concerned whether they need to
know if it is rsv or something
else.
What is important is to monitor
your child.
If your child is having
difficulty breathing, grunting,
flaring, not eating, not
ringing, high fever, that's the
time to call your pediatrician.
And if it's more severe,
especially they're
immunocompromised or very young
then that is the time you may
need to call 911 or head to the
emergency department.
Most of the time that will not
be needed.
But I want to caution that if
your child is having difficulty
breathing, that child probably
needs emergency care and oxygen,
something we can do in our
hospital and hopefully turn them
around quickly and get them
home.
John: Dr. Salazar, thank you
very much.
Dr. Salazar: A pleasure to be
with you.