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Texas Children’s Hospital faces an alarming problem: There are about 45 COVID-19 pediatric hospitalizations, a historic high for the health care system, and many of those patients also have respiratory syncytial virus.
The hospital has identified “25 cases and counts” of children with both RSV and COVID-19 on its three campuses, said Dr. James Versalovic, acting chief pediatrician at Texas Children’s Hospital. More than half of these children have been hospitalized.
In addition to the dozens of children currently hospitalized at Texas Children’s, the hospital has seen thousands more who have not had to undergo hospital treatment. And COVID-19 diagnoses at the facility are increasing by the hundreds every week.
“The delta variant is spreading like wildfire among children and adolescents in the region,” Versalovic said.
RSV, which can be life-threatening to babies and young children, is usually at its highest rate during the winter, but it has seen a rampant off-season this summer. It is a common respiratory tract infection that causes symptoms similar to those of the common cold, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About half of Texas Children’s RSV / COVID-19 patients are infants, and most are children under 5.
Virologists suspect that viral competition from COVID-19 suppressed RSV last winter, and now the virus is coming back in the summer. While doctors aren’t sure whether RSV and COVID-19 will make children sicker, co-infections can have different symptoms.
Children with RSV may have difficulty breathing, sleep apnea, wheezing, fever, and lethargy, while children with COVID-19 are at risk for fever, congestion, and fatigue, said Versalovic.
Texas Children’s doctors have also identified the first case of the delta plus COVID-19 variant among its pediatric population.
The delta plus variant is one of the latest strains to emerge during the pandemic. Infectious disease experts say it is more transmissible than previous variants and more easily clings to lung cells.
Houston Pediatric Departments say they have seen a massive increase in COVID-19 cases in children over the past month. Children under 12 are not eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, putting them at a higher risk of serious illness compared to those aged 12 to 16.
More than 10,000 people are hospitalized for COVID-19 across Texas on Tuesday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. In Houston, only 27 intensive care beds are staffed and available for new patients. Some hospitals are so full that construction crews set up overflow tents outside their doors to sort out incoming cases.
Texas Children’s is postponing some elective surgeries to make more beds available for COVID-19 patients. He had not yet reached full capacity, Versalovic said.
Breakthrough infections can occur in people who have been vaccinated, but are usually milder or asymptomatic compared to those who have not been immunized. Among adults, less than 1,200, or 1.1%, of the more than 107,000 patients hospitalized nationwide for COVID-19 are fully vaccinated, according to the Associated Press.
The Texas Children’s Hospital announced Wednesday morning that it would require COVID-19 vaccines from its nearly 13,000 employees in light of a growing wave of infections.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story was posted with an incorrect title. We regret the error.
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