A mom from Maryland is sharing her story after her young boy was hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) with doctors scrambling to find an available pediatric ICU bed for him.
Kristi Maeng said it was an eye-opening experience that left her very much concerned about the potential for overwhelmed hospital systems in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia (DMV).
She said that this is just going to continue as they are just starting flu season and these beds are not all of a sudden appearing. Maeng said that her six-year-old son, JoJo, was hospitalized in the fall in the emergency room at Holy Cross Hospital, which is located in Silver Spring, Maryland. It was a struggle for both Maeng and her son as those rooms are not designed for the long-term care of sick kids.
RSV cases growing in Maryland
Additionally, the emergency room (ER) was difficult because Maeng was constantly talking to different nurses and doctors about her sick son. After spending a week in the ER, doctors were finally able to find a pediatric ICU bed for JoJo in Baltimore's Sinai Hospital. He stayed there for another four days as he battled RSV, receiving high-flow oxygen to help him with his breathing.
Data from the Maryland Department of Health's new RSV dashboard showed that the state had 129 people hospitalized as of last week due to the virus. Those numbers are among the highest recorded in the last five years. An analysis of federal hospital data by NBC News found 78 percent of pediatric hospital beds were full just last week nationwide.
While her son is doing much better, Maeng said their experience was a wake-up call for her. Maeng told NBC Washington that she hopes more is done in the future to support the strained hospital system of the DMV. She said she thinks this needs to get out and the word needs to get out.
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RSV surge a problem in Seattle as well
She added they all need to be understanding that it is not the doctors. it is not the nurses that are the problem. She said it is the system, and the system needs fixing right now.
This problem is not unique to the DMV. Dr. Shaquita Bell, a senior medical director and pediatrician at Seattle Children's Odessa Brown Children's Clinic, told NPR that this is the worst season that she has seen at 16 years of practicing medicine in pediatrics. She added that their hospitals and clinics are very busy.
She noted that their average phone call intake is about 30 calls a day at their clinic and right now, they are getting 100 a day. Bell added that they are absolutely seeing a lot of sick kids in their community right now.
