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Out-of-season RSV outbreaks, respiratory illnesses reported in Ohio

Lima News - 8/28/2021

Aug. 28—LIMA — Hospitals and doctor's offices are seeing more children with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other respiratory illnesses not typically seen during summer months.

The unusual out-of-season outbreak is occurring at a time when Ohio hospitals are already busy with patients who delayed care last year and responding to the latest coronavirus surge.

"I can count on one hand the number of patients with RSV that I've seen during the summer," said Dr. Jason Metcalf, a pediatric hospitalist for Mercy Health-St. Rita's Medical Center. "It just doesn't happen."

But Metcalf is seeing an average of three children in the hospital each day sick with RSV, a virus which usually peaks in the winter.

RSV causes mild cold-like symptoms in most cases, but it can cause serious complications in young children and infants, particularly those who were born prematurely, who have underlying heart or lung disease or who are younger than 6 months old.

"A healthy child is able to compensate for problems with their lungs or their heart by breathing faster, breathing harder; their heart rate goes up," Metcalf said. "But if you have a problem with those organs already, you just don't have the extra capacity to do that. So, it's much easier for them to get really sick."

The virus spreads through the air and contaminated surfaces, so frequent hand washing, masking and avoiding crowds can reduce a child's chances of contracting RSV or coronavirus, Metcalf said.

Children should stay home when sick if possible, Metcalf said, as daycare centers and schools are prime locations for RSV to spread.

The unexpected outbreak of RSV and other respiratory illnesses coinciding with the summer coronavirus surge is creating a potentially "perilous situation" for Ohio's pediatric hospitals, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health, warned during a press conference Monday.

Children can be infected with two respiratory illnesses at once, Vanderhoff said, although there is not enough data to know whether being infected with COVID-19 and RSV could worsen the course of either illness.

"I firmly believe that most parents of young children don't want to find out and would prefer to take preventative measures to protect their children," Vanderhoff said, noting that vaccination is the best way to prevent coronavirus infections in children over age 12.

Daily coronavirus cases in Ohio have surpassed 4,000 per day since Tuesday, while new hospital admissions across the state in the past three weeks now average 132 per day.

The surge is hitting hospitals as they are already busy treating patients who delayed care or missed preventative screenings last year. In some cases, those patients are sicker and requiring longer hospital stays.

While hospitals are trying to continue elective procedures and visitor access, conversations have already started to determine whether there is enough staffing and bed space to respond to the latest round of patients if the virus continues to spread unabated.

"If the numbers keep going up and we need to convert more beds for COVID patients, then we would look at the elective surgeries that would require hospital stays after the surgery," said Dr. Dennis Morris, vice president and chief medical officer for Lima Memorial Health System.

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