RSV cases have dropped dramatically while COVID-19 precautions are in place
NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) — This time of year is notorious for a respiratory virus that can cause serious problems for the youngest of patients: RSV.
But doctors in central North Carolina say the number of cases they’re seeing in their emergency rooms has dropped dramatically and in some cases, it’s non-existent.
Year after year, Dr. Karen Chilton, WakeMed Children’s Chief Medical Officer, has watched as WakeMed Children’s Emergency Dept. becomes overrun.
“Patients kind of back up in the emergency room,” she said. “They are admitted to the hospital, but they don’t have anywhere to go physically in the hospital. Even the kiddos who don’t become so sick that they require a ventilator, still have long stays in the hospital.”
There is no cure for RSV, the respiratory virus that can cause severe lung infection in children, especially infants, which prompts those long hospital stays.
Between Nov. 1, 2019 and Jan. 31, 2020, there were 263 RSV patients admitted to WakeMed. So far this season, there’s been only one RSV patient admitted, according to hospital staff.
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