For girls and boys under two years old, the difficult phase begins. Pneumonia caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a “medical emergency” and the condition is the leading cause of hospitalization, requiring hospitalization for seven days due to the severity of the condition.
In some cases, babies with respiratory failure who require ventilation leave the hospital with oxygen bottles. One person with the virus can infect at least four people through saliva droplets and sneezing.
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The Infectious Diseases Department and the Emergency Department of the Old Civilian Hospital (HCG) “Fre Antonio Alcalde” in Guadalajara are beginning to be saturated with the care of these boys and girls, while the Infectious Disease Department and Emergency Department of the Western General Hospital (HGO) The chamber begins to saturate. Seven more hospitalized patients.
Currently, 8 out of every 10 patients in HCG’s Pediatric Infectious Diseases Department and Emergency Department are hospitalized, and the 19 beds in the Emergency Department have a utilization rate of 70%.
Martin Guerrero Becerra, chief of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Service, warned that a PCR test performed in the laboratory confirmed the presence of respiratory syncytial virus, a serious health problem that, if left untreated, can lead to death in patients. .
Alert symptoms in babies who have previously had dyspnea are fever, fussiness, crystallized mucus, stopping eating, and oxygen levels falling below 90%.
“If steps are not taken promptly, difficulties may increase which may result in or require the child to be put on a ventilator in order to save their life. It is important that relatives go to hospital after seeing these alarming statistics.”
If these babies have moderate pneumonia, things can get worse: “In addition to fluid, the lungs have to receive nutrients through intravenous lines, and complications can obviously arise, and even the lungs can rupture due to ventilation problems. .” As of the second half of October, the number of infants hospitalized with viral pneumonia is increasing compared to 2020, 2021, the peak of the Covid 19 pandemic, and 2022 (when no patients were registered in HCG).
“The year of COVID-19, when kids were confined to their homes, respiratory syncytia issues actually decreased significantly and we didn’t have any issues. But when parents and daycare centers resumed activities, we again started with non-emergency situations, but there were no becomes saturated.”
He explained that the hospital stay for infants who receive facial ventilator ventilation is five to seven days, and other infants cannot be discharged until their oxygen saturation is greater than 90 percent.
Experts predict that pneumonia cases may increase in the coming weeks. Jaime Arias, a physician at the hospital known as “Zoquipan,” advises against self-medicating babies or overusing antibiotics.
If family members have respiratory symptoms, it is recommended that they avoid going to day care centers to avoid contagion and get vaccinated against respiratory infections such as influenza, whooping cough, chickenpox, and respiratory syncytial virus.