11-month-old child with COVID needs treatment 150 miles away due to lack of beds at Houston hospital

HOUSTON – A sign that the delta variant is affecting more children daily, an 11-month-old Texas girl had to be airlifted to a hospital 150 miles away because no local pediatric hospital would accept her as a transfer patient.

“She needed to be intubated immediately because she was having seizures,” said Patricia Darnauer, administrator at Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Houston. “We looked at the top five pediatric hospital groups, and none [had beds] available.”

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The situation is sad but not surprising for Dr Christina Propst, who is one of Houston’s most vocal pediatricians. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Propst has encouraged masking, social distancing, and caution towards anyone who would listen.

“Emergency rooms at major children’s hospitals here in Houston, the world’s largest medical center, are extremely crowded,” she said. “They fill up, if not full, just like hospitals and intensive care units.”

Propst and other medical providers say there are a number of reasons for the tightening of pediatric beds. First of all, it’s clear that the delta variant of COVID-19 affects more children and is more contagious.

In addition, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is also on the rise in the region, sending more children to hospitals. This all happens during the summer vacation, where doctors are used to seeing more broken bones and other ailments caused by children playing outside or at camp.

“We have many patients, many patients every day,” Darnauer said. “We are back beyond our pre-pandemic volumes at LBJ.”

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So what can worried parents do?

Propst said adults should get vaccinated if possible. Children not old enough to be vaccinated should wear masks when indoors or with groups of people. She would also like Texas to re-allow public schools to impose masks.

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“If the kids don’t hide in schools, that will be a major problem,” Propst said.

She added that the start of the school year usually causes a lot of germs to spread, even in normal times.

“It is typical that two weeks after school we see a strong outbreak of strep and other sources of infection. We are preparing – not a question of when it will be bad,” she said.