‘Storm’ of Respiratory Illnesses, 572 Kids Seeks ER Care Per Day

United States: Several hospitals in the US are seeing an alarming number of RSV and “walking pneumonia” cases among kids despite the fact that the overall respiratory illness activity stays low across the country.

Cook Children’s Medical Centers in Texas has reported a ” steep increase” in children seeking emergency care for respiratory illnesses.

On Tuesday alone, the Fort Worth location saw 572 patients in the emergency department, nearing a record high. Officials attribute the rise in hospital visits to the spread of RSV and walking pneumonia across the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Moreover, the University of North Carolina hospitals reported four walking pneumonia cases in the tailing week of October, compared to zero cases at the same time in the previous year.

Infectious disease experts suggest that while parents should remain vigilant about the spread of respiratory illnesses, this season may signal a return to pre-COVID pandemic patterns.

According to Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, “It’s the calm before the storm,” ABC News reported.

“It feels that there’s so much going on … that we almost forget about respiratory viruses, but they’re very regular. They’re kind of falling back into a normal pre-pandemic cadence,” Chin-Hong added.

Cyclical increase in cases

The disease is called “walking pneumonia,” which affects the respiratory tract from a bacterial source called Mycoplasma pneumoniae, as noted by the US CDC.

Infection cases normally manifest at milder levels, where most people appear better than expected among those with a lung infection. Therefore, the term” walking pneumonia” is used.

As per Chin-Hong, “Just like other respiratory viruses, there was not a lot of exposure during the pandemic years because of social distancing and people staying away from each other, and so we’re catching up to that,” ABC News reported.

“Mycoplasma may also be one of these things where you’re kind of seeing the perfect storm. So, it comes back every four or five years, and people are getting back to their normal lives,” he added.