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Hospitals overwhelmed by surge in US paediatric patients Expert: Severe flu season could arrive wit
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Hospitals across the US are becoming overwhelmed as the number of paediatric patients suffering from respiratory illnesses surges, ABC reported on 23 October. Some experts are warning that the US could see a serious flu season in the coming months. The US Department of Health and Human Services reports that hospitals across the country are being "swamped" with paediatric patients suffering from respiratory illnesses, with some 40,000 available beds already 71% occupied. Charlotte Hobbs, professor of paediatric infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said, "In addition to the new coronary outbreak, other respiratory viruses are also at play, and the number of flu cases is now becoming more and more frequent." Michael Koester, director of paediatric infectious diseases at a Rhode Island children's hospital, also said the number of young patients admitted locally for respiratory syncytial virus doubled from mid-September to mid-October, "with some patients even coming from more than 100 miles away because their local paediatric hospital was overcrowded or had closed." According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,674 patients were admitted to hospital with complications from the flu in the last week alone, up from 1,332 the week before. It is mainly young people who are currently visiting health facilities. Dr John Brownstein of Boston Children's Hospital said, "Typically, we see an increase in flu cases that may start in November or December, with the peak occurring in February. But going into October, we've seen an increase in flu cases in the United States." Brownstein said the current flu season in the United States is developing rapidly, but has not yet peaked. Some experts also say that part of the increase in flu cases may be related to the relaxation of restrictions on the new crown outbreak. As a potentially severe flu season approaches, many people in poor health will be more likely to get sick. |
