RSV season strikes early again as Erie hospitals see sick babies. Here are the symptoms

David Bruce, Erie Times-News
·5 min read

Saint Vincent Hospital doctors have started to see the telltale mark of respiratory syncytial virus season — babies who are struggling to breathe normally.

At least four babies were admitted with RSV last week, said Dr. Susheel Muralidharan, a Saint Vincent neonatologist.

"Those are admissions. We are seeing many more in the emergency department and doctor's offices," Muralidharan said. "It's been like this for the past one to two weeks."

Erie County has seen a surge in RSV cases and hospitalizations similar to other areas of the country. There were 149 RSV cases reported and nine people were hospitalized with the virus the week of Oct. 9-15, the highest weekly numbers in at least a year, according to the Erie County Department of Health.

RSV causes cold-like symptoms in older children and adults, but can lead to life-threatening breathing problems in babies. It can also cause serious complications in older people, especially those with other chronic diseases like asthma or heart failure.

Case surge arrived early, may peak in January

Erie County usually sees its first RSV case in October, with the peak arriving in January. But that has changed in recent years as the monthly number of cases rose during each of the past two summers, according to the Erie County Department of Health.

More: Coughing, congestion and sore throats: Do Erie residents have COVID-19, RSV or the flu?

RSV cases by month in Erie County for 2021 and 2022:

  • June 2021 (1 case), June 2022 (9 cases)

  • July 2021 (11), July 2022 (22)

  • August 2021 (129), August 2022 (36)

  • September 2021 (334), Sept. 4-Oct. 1, 2022 (157, monthly total not yet available)

"The COVID-19 pandemic really had an effect, with the masking and social distancing," said Dr. Howard Nadworny, a Saint Vincent infectious diseases specialist and county health department adviser. "A lot of kids who normally would have gotten RSV didn't get it, which was great. But when we opened things back up, there was a larger number of susceptible people in the community."

Increased testing might also play a role as more medical offices now offer a combined COVID-19/flu/RSV test for patients with respiratory illnesses, Nadworny said.

No shortage of pediatric hospital beds in Erie, region

The nationwide surge in RSV cases has caused some children's hospitals to be nearly filled with RSV patients.

Doctors with both Saint Vincent and UPMC Hamot said not only are their hospitals able to handle these RSV cases, they also have not experienced any issues transferring critically ill children to regional children's hospitals in Pittsburgh or Cleveland.

"Right now we are not seeing much severe infection, just an increase in the number of patients with RSV compared to previous years," Muralidharan said.

More: Flu, RSV and the common cold: Winter viruses are filling up hospitals with sick kids

Symptoms

RSV's main symptoms include:

  • Runny nose

  • Coughing

  • Sneezing

  • Lack of appetite

Most people recover on their own in 10 to 14 days. The illness can turn serious when someone develops either pneumonia or bronchiolitis, an inflammation of the smallest airways in the lungs.

"The issue with babies is that their airways are smaller and if they get inflamed, it can cut off air to the lungs," Nadworny said.

If a baby struggles to breathe — or has short, shallow and rapid breathing — the pediatrician should be contacted immediately or the baby should be taken to an emergency department.

In older adults, symptoms of an RSV complication (usually pneumonia) include:

  • Fever

  • Severe cough

  • Wheezing

  • Rapid breathing or difficulty breathing — the person may prefer to sit up rather than lie down

  • Bluish color of the skin due to lack of oxygen

"You see these symptoms, you need to get the person to a physician or to the ER," said Dr. Gregory Beard, UPMC Hamot's chief medical officer. "As we say, older people often can survive the illness but not some of the illness' complications."

RSV is spread similarly to colds and flu. To reduce transmission, people should cover their coughs and sneezes, wash their hands regularly, avoid contact with sick people, and wear a facemask in crowded places, especially daycare centers.

COVID cases rise slightly, wastewater samples suggest larger surge

Erie County experienced a slight increase in its weekly number of COVID-19 cases for the first time in a month, though sampling from the Erie Wastewater Treatment Plant suggests a larger surge.

The county's number of confirmed cases rose from 224 between Oct. 5-11 to 255 between Oct. 12-18, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The number had declined for each of the previous four weeks.

But the amount of coronavirus found in wastewater samples taken last week rose to levels not seen since July, Nadworny said.

"It shows that there is likely a lot of people with the virus who aren't getting tested," Nadworny said. "What puzzles me is that every other time, once we got past a surge, the cases almost go away until the next variant. We are still seeing BA.5 in our sampling but the cases are increasing."

More: Erie County's highest COVID vaccination rate by ZIP code is nearly double its lowest

COVID-19 hospitalizations among county residents declined slightly this week, from an average of 31.7 a day to 30.7. No deaths have yet been reported in October, so the total remains at 855 for the entire pandemic, according to the county health department.

A majority of hospital patients with COVID-19 continue to be people admitted for other reasons, hospital officials said.

"We continue to see people testing positive once they are in the hospital for other issues," Beard said. "We also see some asymptomatic patients test positive when they are being transferred to a skilled nursing facility, where a test is required."

Here is a look at the county's other COVID-19 measurements between Oct. 5-11 and Oct. 12-18, according to the state health department:

  • The rate of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents increased from 83 to 94.5.

  • The positivity rate for COVID-19 tests rose from 13.2% to 13.9%.

  • The average daily number of COVID-19 patients on ventilators increased from 1.1 to 2.3.

  • The percentage of emergency department visits due to COVID-19 symptoms remained at 2.7%.

Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNBruce.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Here are symptoms as early RSV season sends babies to Erie hosptials