FORT WORTH, Texas — Cook Children's Medical Center doctors on Friday warned of the rise in cases of Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, as North Texas heads into the winter flu season.
Over the last week, the hospital's emergency department had treated 240 cases of RSV over the last week, officials said.
The hospital was seeing about 50 cases per week at the beginning of October.
"We are becoming overwhelmed with patients," Dr. Taylor Louden, the medical director for Cook Children's' emergency department, said in a virtual press conference.
Louden said the emergency department on Thursday alone saw 423 patients, though not all were RSV cases. Flu cases are also starting to tick up, as well as COVID-19 cases, Louden said.
Of the 43 pediatric intensive care beds at Cook Children's, 41 were full, and more than half of those patients - 23 - were hospitalized with respiratory illness.
Louden encouraged parents to limit trips to the emergency room for severe emergencies. For more minor symptoms, such as cough or fever of less than a day, Louden said parents should first reach out to their child's primary care physician.
Cook Children's isn't the only children's hospital seeing an increase in RSV cases. Children's Health in Dallas this week reported 382 cases across its system in the last week of October, up 205% from the first week of the month.
For Cook Children's, the uptick in viruses and cases is trickling down to the hospital's network of seven urgent care facilities across the area.
On Wednesday, the urgent care facilities saw 752 visits overall, "certainly enough to stretch our resources and create wait times," said Dr. Amy Richardson, the medical director for the Cook Children's urgent care facilities.
"We do anticipate those problems will worsen as oppose to get better," Richardson said.
A new shot to protect infants against RSV was approved earlier this year, but the supply has been limited. A CDC advisory last month told doctors that infants less than six months old who have chronic lung disease or other underlying conditions should be given priority.
What is RSV?
Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is a respiratory virus that produces cold-like symptoms. Most cases can be mild, but infants and older adults are more likely to develop severe cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cook Children's provided this list of signs and symptoms parents should watch out for:
Symptoms of RSV in infants younger than 6 months may include:
● Irritability
● Poor feeding
● Lethargy
● Episodes where they stop breathing
● Fever
Infants and children over 6 months may experience:
● Runny nose
● Loss of appetite
● Cough
● Sneezing
● Fever
● Sometimes wheezing
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The Associated Press contributed to this report