This time last year at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Chief of Emergency Services Dr. Raymond Pitetti and his team were overwhelmed with sick children. At the beginning of December 2022, the department saw a spike in activity from a combination of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), covid-19 and flu cases,
Every day about 3 p.m., nurses, doctors and staff in the emergency room at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh brace for impact. That hour marks the beginning of an eight-hour stretch that in recent months has been the busiest time of day for the department, which has seen a spike
More than three-quarters of the nation’s pediatric beds were occupied as of November 7 and the number of ICU beds for the sickest children are at or above capacity, as greater numbers of children are being hospitalized.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) have reached out to President Joe Biden and Health Secretary Xavier Becerra to declare the rising hospitalization of children with RSV a national emergency. The organizations said many hospitals across the country are filled to capacity with children suffering from RSV, influenza, and other respiratory