Should you go to ER or not? Local children’s hospital offers online guide to help decide
Parents looking for guidance on how serious is serious when a child gets sick are getting some assistance from a local children’s hospital.
Mary Bridge Children’s hospital in Tacoma is continuing to see a high volume of sick patients in its emergency room, primarily driven by respiratory syncytial virus. The virus this season is hitting infants and young children particularly hard and can send those with compromised immune systems and underlying health conditions into the pediatric ICU.
Scott Thompson, media representative for MultiCare/Mary Bridge, on Friday told The News Tribune that the hospital “saw an all-time high of RSV cases the last week of October,” totaling 304.
“The previous high was 200 for one week in early 2017,” he added.
The percentage of positive RSV tests has risen from 3 percent the last week of September to 27 percent the last week of October, according to Thompson.
Hospital occupancy was at 110 percent as of midday Friday.
To help ease the strain, an online guide on Mary Bridge’s website is aiming to take some of the guesswork out of whether to take a sick child to the ER or an urgent care center.
The basic judgment call boils down to whether a situation is life-threatening or not. Those that are go to the ER, non-life-threatening cases are recommended to seek urgent care.
Beyond that, the online symptom checker offers more clarity, with the ER recommended in cases that include any of the following: difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness, seizures, severe abdominal pain, severe allergic reactions, severe burns, high fever with headache, severe dehydration and more.
Urgent care works for cases including cold or flu symptoms, earaches, minor burns and bruises, simple wounds, sore throats, wheezing, cough, fever and other illness symptoms. Pediatric virtual care also is available.
RSV is so common that nearly all children contract it before age 2. In many cases, it presents like a cold, but severe cases can be life-threatening. Older adults with lung or heart disease, such as asthma, congestive heart failure, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are also at risk of developing more severe cases.
The peak season for RSV infection in the United States has historically been fall through spring, though at Mary Bridge, officials say they were seeing cases as early as June.
The virus is spread person to person through close contact with an infected individual via secretions from coughing and sneezing or touching virus-contaminated objects, such as doorknobs or toys.
Frequent hand-washing, cleaning and disinfecting surfaces, and avoiding close contact with those who are sick, including not sharing cups and utensils, are all ways to reduce both risk and spread recommended by the CDC.
A person can become ill anytime from two to eight days after exposure, with a typical infection generally lasting three to seven days.
More serious cases can lead to bronchiolitis (inflammation of small lung airways) and pneumonia.
Drilling down symptom information, figuring out whether the illness is an upper or lower respiratory infection, is on another symptom tracking page from Mary Bridge.
Flu shots and COVID boosters
Dr. Carrie Jenner, medical director of Pediatrics for Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, told The News Tribune via email Friday that RSV was just one “of several upper respiratory viral infections that are high in the community for children under the age of one.”
She noted that “It is difficult to estimate an exact number of RSV cases because some of the symptoms, including high fever and breathing problems, are similar to COVID-19 and influenza.”
“Most of the cases are diagnosed as RSV when the symptoms are more advanced,” she added.
The flu and COVID-19 remain in circulation in the area, with officials encouraging everyone to get vaccinated to help prevent a winter surge or “tridemic” of flu, RSV and COVID.
The state Department of Health on Friday announced there have been three lab-confirmed deaths from the flu so far this year in the state.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is hosting a free flu shot clinic for children from noon to 6 p.m., Nov. 19, at Lakewood Towne Center, 5731 Main St. SW, Lakewood.
More area vaccine clinic information is at tpchd.org/kidsvax.
Average cases per day of COVID-19 over seven days ending Oct. 29 was 53, TPCHD reported Nov. 1.
Information on where to find COVID-19 vaccine and the new updated bivalent booster locally is at tpchd.org/vaxtothefuture. You can also use the statewide locator at vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov
More information on finding a flu vaccine is at vaccines.gov
