CORPUS CHRISTI — Officials at Driscoll Children’s Hospital have asked pediatricians to extend their hours of care after an overwhelming amount of RSV and flu visits to the emergency room.
Doctor’s reported seeing hundreds of cases a week and several babies are in the Intensive Care Unit with the virus.
“The combination of RSV together with influenza is overwhelming in the number of children coming to the emergency department,” infectious diseases doctor at DCH, Jaime Fergie said. “So, I’m encouraging families, parents to talk to their primary doctors and take you child there first.”
Dr. Fergie said if someone’s child or baby has difficulty breathing or cannot eat or drink, that’s the time to take them to the emergency room.
As KRIS 6 has reported, it’s starting to affect the amount of time patients are having to wait to get treated.
Experts aren’t exactly sure why flu season started early and why they are seeing an unusually high amount of RSV cases, but a factor could be people not being as cautious as they were during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Many children who did not get infected in 2021 or 2020 because of all the measures, they’re getting infected now and that’s the problem,” Fergie said.
ABC Pediatrics administrators said they are open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. but have extended hours from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays.
Almouie Pediatrics administrators said they take walk-ins, have a Saturday clinic and are doing rapid COVID-19, flu and RSV testing.
KRIS 6 was also told Amistadt Pediatrics has evening hours four nights a week.
