HOUSTON, TX (KTRK) — Houston pediatricians are keeping a close eye on hospitalizations this year after seeing unusual peaks in cases of respiratory syncytial virus among children this year and nearing bed capacity. The fluctuations typically occur in the winter, but this year, they’ve already seen them in the summer and now in the fall, experts said.
RSV is a contagious virus that causes respiratory infections and symptoms very similar to flu and COVID-19, such as runny nose, coughing, sneezing, fever and wheezing. According to the CDC, bronchiolitis, inflammation of the small airways in the lung and pneumonia, is the most common cause of lung infection in children younger than one year old.
DeAndré Hutchison thought he would lose his almost 7-month-old son, DJ, in June. The Houston police sergeant said her baby was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) at Texas Children’s Hospital following irregular breathing patterns. DJ was eventually diagnosed with RSV and was placed on a ventilator. After being intubated for about a week, Hutchison said his son was finally starting to recover and is now back to normal.
“I went through high-speed chases, fought with hostile people, found weapons on suspects intended to harm us. But that’s nothing compared to what I went through in the hospital with my son. It’s very traumatic for my whole life and family. All we can do is pray,” he said. “Post-COVID, everyone knows what the ventilator means. It’s like we’re near the end. We are so proud and thankful that God chose to save him from the RSV experience.”
DJ’s case was part of an unusual RSV surge that doctors saw last summer. As the medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Texas Children’s Hospital, Dr. Melanie Kitagawa said they’ve seen a second increase in the fall – something very rare for a virus that typically peaks once a year during the winter. Currently, he has 40 children, more than 10 hospitalized with RSV in the ICU.
Dr. “The unpredictability of viral patterns that are so unusual has really alerted us to being ready to talk about the effects of the virus on our children,” Kitagawa said.
A pediatric infectious diseases specialist with UTHealth Houston McGovern School of Medicine and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, Dr. Michael Chang said there were virtually no cases of RSV in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. But in July 2021, they saw RSV cases rise again, and this summer’s spike isn’t as surprising as before.
There are several theories as to what causes the surges. Now that the COVID-19 vaccine is available, medical professionals said they’ve seen fewer people engage in preventative behaviors like wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, washing their hands, and staying home when sick.
“People often forget that these infection prevention strategies also help prevent flu and RSV. There were a lot of groups of children and infants who were not exposed to RSV. Similarly, there were older children and adults. They weren’t exposed that year, so they were immune. “Now, we’re actually behaving in a way that helps the virus spread.”
The Houston Department of Health does not track RSV-specific data. In an email, however, a representative told ABC13 that flu-like illnesses continue to rise in the Houston and Harris County area. For the week to October 15, 2.17% of emergency room visits from 1.1% in mid-September consisted of flu-like illness. In this time frame, the percentages were below 1% in the previous four flu seasons. During this flu season, there was a sharper increase in illness in children than in adults, compared to about 0.6% for adults.
Texas is one of the states reporting an 85-90% hospital occupancy rate, according to federal data. Dr. Chang said they’ve seen their beds at Memorial Hermann Hospital sway around capacity several times over the past few weeks, with about one-fifth staying in the intensive care unit. Recently, they have seen cases plateau, but still not reaching baseline (zero cases).
“We’re lucky to live in the Greater Houston area, where we have two really well-prepared children’s hospitals in the area. While we’re always keeping an eye on our bed capacity, we’re well equipped so far to deal with any ongoing surge,” he said.
Dr. Kitagawa said TCH is prepared to deal with spikes in RSV cases as they live each year and learn a lot about surge management through COVID. Right now, it’s difficult for medical professionals to predict what these fluctuations will mean over the long term, because they’re still studying the numbers and won’t be able to tell for a while what the patterns are, he said.
Currently, there is no specific treatment or medication for RSV, although researchers are working to develop vaccines and antivirals. For healthy adults and infants, most RSV infections will go away on their own within a week or two, experts said. But infants younger than six months and adults over 65 with underlying health problems may need hospitalization if they have trouble breathing or become dehydrated, according to the CDC.
Dr. Chang said he hopes they don’t see a significant increase in winter, as most families have already contracted some form of respiratory virus illness this year. His biggest concern is that the public underestimates the potential impact of RSV. The best way for families to keep their children safe is to follow the preventive measures often practiced during the COVID-19 pandemic: Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or the sleeve of your top shirt, wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 days. seconds, avoid close contact with others and clean frequently touched surfaces.
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