Children's hospitals in Colorado overwhelmed by surge in RSV, flu, COVID cases

Nov. 9—Unprecedented and concerning numbers of children are being hospitalized in Colorado for respiratory syncytial virus, commonly called RSV, according to officials from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and hospitals.

Coupled with the start of the flu season and rising COVID-19 cases, the Children's Hospital Colorado system is handling record volumes of patients in emergency departments and inpatient units, Dr. Kevin Carney, associate chief medical officer and a pediatric emergency medicine physician, said Wednesday during a media briefing.

"Children's Colorado is seeing an early and intense start to both the RSV and flu seasons," he said, with families waiting hours in emergency departments and for bed placement.

The night of Nov. 2 brought the most children the hospital system has ever received, Southern Region President Greg Raymond told The Gazette earlier this week.

That included the Colorado Springs location, he said, although he said he could not provide exact numbers.

"We've been at capacity or near since the beginning of August, and there's no sign of it receding," Raymond said.

Pediatric bed availability across the Children's Hospital system has dipped to "zero to five beds available at any given moment over the last several weeks," Carney said.

With demand for services 30% higher than normal, Carney said, "It's truly like nothing we've ever seen before."

With cases of flu ramping up as well as COVID-19 patients, "We are closely watching that hour-by-hour basis as we try to manage beds," Raymond said.

Health officials are concerned because the severity of the surge is much more than usual.

Metro Denver recorded 554 RSV-related hospitalizations from Oct. 1 through Nov. 5, with 525 being children, said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist.

"The levels for RSV hospitalizations are very high, and it's earlier than usual to see the levels this high," she said.

One reason is that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted typical seasonal infections, she said.

New coronavirus subvariants are driving an uptick in COVID cases as well, Herlihy said, with 320 hospitalizations statewide, up from 218 a week ago.

Flu hospitalizations also are increasing from a total of 49 as of last week to 92 this week statewide, since Oct. 2 when tracking started, she said.

Workforce shortages have led to overtime hours for Children's Hospital staff, Carney said.

"Teams are picking up lots of extra shifts," he said, adding that additional outside staff are being used to meet the growing demand for care.

Hospitals and health systems statewide have activated a transfer center first created during the COVID-19 pandemic to help manage pediatric hospitalizations, the Colorado Hospital Association announced Wednesday.

Colorado hospitals learned from COVID that treating patients during surges works more smoothly with collaboration between hospitals and health systems, Jeff Tieman, Colorado Hospital Association president and CEO, said in a statement.

Two weeks ago, Children's Hospital Colorado's main location at the Anschutz campus in Aurora redeployed a patient care tent outside of its emergency department, Carney said.

The tent was first used in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and now holds lower-acuity patients when the emergency department is full, "which is happening more and more frequently," he said.

Hospitals also are reallocating beds, such as moving older teens to regular hospital beds instead of pediatric beds and using spaces in other areas of facilities.

"There are a lot of locations in a hospital where you can provide care that's safe and high quality but not licensed as inpatient bed," Raymond said, such as a procedure room or the emergency department.

Also, elective procedures are being rescheduled, Carney said.

"It is yet another unprecedented impact on our health care system we are seeing at this time, working around the clock to provide the best care possible," said Scott Bookman, director of the division of disease control and public health response at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Officials advise that children and adults stay home if they are sick to prevent spreading diseases. Even a mild cold or other bug can be transmitted and become a severe illness for people with compromised health conditions, Herlihy said.

Also, wash hands frequently for 20 seconds with soap and hot water, cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or a bent elbow, avoid touching the face and don't share utensils or cups.

Masks can help prevent the spread of viruses, Herlihy said.

And parents should contact their primary care doctor or pediatrician first, Carney said, to obtain advice on whether to bring a child in to a doctor's office, schedule a telehealth appointment or go to urgent care of an emergency department.