‘We are so overwhelmed’: Children’s hospitals across Canada stretched as RSV cases, flu-like illnesses spike – CTV
Nov. 5, 2022
Coming down from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, children’s hospitals across Canada are struggling to handle a new surge of young patients with viral infections in what pediatric health-care workers are calling their version of 2020.
Pediatric health-care professionals warn most children’s hospitals are operating at or over 100 per cent occupancy, that emergency room wait times can be up to 24 hours and that some non-emergency surgeries are already being delayed.
One germ in particular, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), has especially stretched hospitals’ limits. RSV is a common childhood respiratory infection that normally results in cold-like symptoms which clear up after a week or two, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
However, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) warns severe cases of RSV may lead to hospitalization. RSV can also cause secondary bacterial infections, such as pneumonia. There is no vaccine for RSV nor any medication that clears up an infection, so care is normally centred on treating symptoms and secondary infections.
