Arkansas hospitals see spike in child RSV cases

(Little Rock, KATV) — Arkansas Children’s Hospital is among the other medical facilities seeing a high volume of children being admitted with RSV as the season for upper respiratory illnesses continues.

That’s right… The season for big gatherings is also the time that children are at the highest risk to contract RSV. Though this shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the holidays there are ways you can protect your loved ones.

“I think it’s really important if you’ve got a baby that you try to hold them close to us…That we try to control their environment. If you’re going to go visit family I’d try to screen ahead of time… Is everyone that’s going to be there well. If someone’s going to be holding the baby let’s have them wash their hands first and if they’re coughing or sneezing let’s hold off on spending time with the baby right now,” UAMS, Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics/Chief of the Division General Internal Medicine, Dr. Robert Hopkins said.

Facilities like Arkansas Children’s Hospital are filling up with young patients experiencing Respiratory Syncytial Virus also known as RSV.

RSV takes the lives of hundreds of infants and young children each year, hospitalizing thousands more.

“RSV is the number one cause of hospitalization in kids for bronchiolitis and pneumonia and also causes an number of outpatient visits for those conditions. What does that look like? Often children will start out with a stuffy nose… Runny nose a little bit of fussiness followed by cough and then they can develop tremendous amounts of runny nose and worsening cough,” Hopkins said.

After struggling to find her 5-month-old a RSV immunization, Mother Elicia Dover shared her experiencing having first her son contract the illness just a few years ago.

“My son Eli had RSV when he we just 11 weeks old and watching your baby struggle to breathe is one of the scariest things you can possibly experience as a parent,” Dover said.

Experiencing a packed hospital firsthand.

“He was hospitalized for three days at children’s hospital and thank god we made it out. And everything was fine, but that floor was filled with babies that were on ventilators that were really sick kids and so it’s really scary. I mean it’s a horrible disease and I know every year children’s is just flooded with kids that have RSV,” Dover said.

UAMS offered tips on keeping your children safe while you’re out this holiday season.

“Was your hands on a regular basis use hand sanitizer… You know be careful about touching common surfaces and that kind of thing. Never a bad idea to use one of these things to have a mask that you can use around others,” Hopkins said.

Getting vaccines is also encouraged.

“The vaccines right now are available for older adults 60 and older who in a discussion with their healthcare provider can decide to get an RSV vaccine. We can give one of those vaccines to pregnant women who are in that last part of pregnancy between 32 and 36 weeks of their pregnancy, give them that vaccine so that they can then pass on the antibodies that they make to their baby to help protect that baby against RSV. There’s also a new what they call a passive antibody product and so a molecule that can be given as an injection to little babies to help prevent RSV,” Hopkins said.

Because there is a limited supply of FDA approved injections, Children’s says they are saving those for the sickest children in their care. But they do suggest getting families and eligible children the other available vaccine to help stop the spread of respiratory illnesses.

Arkansas Children’s Health System’s Executive Vice President and Chief Officer, Rick Barr, said quote “Our hospitals, clinics, and emergency departments are all busy but well equipped and prepared. As the state’s only pediatric health system we remain vigilant to ensure we are available for every child who needs us.”

To assist with lowering RSV numbers the CDC is releasing 77,000 RSV immunizations for children.