Washington, DC National Children’s Hospital reached its peak capacity over the weekend as it treated more children with RSV, a hospital official says a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and airways.
The 323 beds at Children National’s acute care hospital were filled over the weekend over the weekend, medical doctor David Wessel told News4 on Monday. Of these patients, 22 have COVID-19. Previously, the highest number of COVID patients in the hospital was 18 last winter, when vaccines were not widely available.
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Wessel said the hospital is already close to capacity after discharging some patients.
Wessel said RSV cases have increased a lot. The virus is usually seen in the fall and winter, but doctors see more cases when children return to school and mix with others for the first time in months.
Wessel said waiting times in the Children’s National emergency room could be longer due to the increase. The hospital encourages parents to go to their child’s primary care doctor first if it is not a real emergency.
But Wessel said the hospital has been anticipating this wave and no patients will be withdrawn. They have enough space and resources to deal with everyone who walks in the door.
“We have been planning this for many weeks. We are working closely with the city and the Department of Health to implement these overload plans. For example, there may be patients with more acute care in the emergency department. We also have overload capacity outside of operating rooms and also in recovery areas, ”Wessel said.
According to the CDC, symptoms of RSV infection include runny nose, decreased appetite, cough, sneezing, fever, and wheezing. Symptoms usually appear in stages and not all at once.
Very young babies can only show irritability, decreased activity, and difficulty breathing, according to the CDC.