FORT WORTH, Texas —
Farmersville parent Laykin Weaver knew something wasn’t right when her 6-year-old son's oxygen levels dropped to the 80s.
"I’m panicking, crying,” Weaver said. “We’ve never been through this before.”
When her son’s breathing worsened, her intuition kicked in and she knew he needed help.
Two nearby hospitals were full. They were turned away twice due to maximum capacity.
Finally, Weaver turned to Cook Children’s in Fort Worth for help. Weaver described the ambulance ride, which lasted an hour and 20 minutes, as a nightmare.
“It’s such a blur because it happened so fast,” Weaver said. “That’s a scary feeling you don’t know what’s happening in that moment.”
Her son had respiratory syncytial virus, also known as RSV, a common respiratory virus. It’s common among infants and the elderly, and it’s spreading across North Texas.
“It can be really serious for babies,” Dr. Maxie Brewer, a doctor of osteopathic medicine at Cook Children’s, said.
Cook Children’s is seeing an early RSV spike this year.
“It’s been crazy,” Brewer said.
Normally, RSV cases rise beginning in December, but this year, Cook Children’s saw a spike in cases in August.
Since August, the hospital has been at maximum capacity and seeing up to 500 emergency room patients per day.
Between Oct. 9 and Oct. 15, 288 cases of RSV were recorded at Cook Children’s Medical Center. All of Cook Children’s urgent care centers combined are seeing between 600-700+ children daily.
“This has been the highest volume of patients I have ever seen,” Brewer said.
The spike in RSV cases has led to long ER wait times.
Brewer’s advice? Get help right away if you notice trouble breathing or fast breathing, but save the ER for emergencies only. For non-emergencies, Brewer recommends reaching out to a pediatrician first. If that’s not an option, visit an urgent care center.
A visit to the emergency should be the third option for non-emergencies, Brewer said.
Brewer told WFAA it’s unclear why RSV cases spike earlier than normal this year, but said virus trends have shifted since children were kept home during the pandemic.
With school back in session, viruses like RSV are taking off.
Weaver waited six hours in the ER at Cook Children’s. She credits the hospital’s staff for getting her son the care he needed and said she’s glad it didn’t get worse.
“It was so sad,” Weaver said. “I cried a little bit because there were several doors open and you could see infants in cribs dealing with RSV, so that was heartbreaking.”
Her advice to other parents: don’t be afraid to advocate for your children when you know something isn’t right with their health.