GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — Hospitals across the state continue to see a rise in pediatric Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV).
In Grand Rapids, Helen DeVos Children's Hospital currently has 23 patients with RSV admitted. The vast majority are less than two years old.
Meanwhile in Detroit, Corewell Health announced Wednesday it is limiting visitors to pediatric units in Royal Oak, Dearborn and Troy hospitals due to the rise in respiratory illness hospitalizations.
Two weeks ago, Helen DeVos also limited visitors to two visitors at a bedside during the day and one overnight.
However, this season's hospitalizations are not meeting the level of last year's.
"In 2022, we saw an unprecedented winter with extremely high volumes of patients needing acute care both in our emergency departments and our hospital that really threatened to overwhelm our system," said Dr. Andrea Hadley, Division Chief of Pediatric Acute Care at Corewell Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. "This year, we are really seeing back to what we would call a true typical winter surge, where we do see that high level of patients increasing through the course of the winter."
Dr. Hadley urged parents of infants to talk to their pediatrician about getting the RSV antibody treatment to slow the spread.
"The most exciting prevention we have available now is a monoclonal antibody shot," said Hadley. "That is good. That can be given to infants, all healthy infants, as well as older babies that have underlying medical conditions such as prematurity, and heart disease."
Corewell Health recommends protecting yourself and children by staying home if sick, washing hands frequently and getting vaccinated against influenza and COVID-19.
"We are well prepared," said Hadley about the RSV surge. "We do this every year. We can take care of patients, any patients that come our way. We're remaining open. There may be longer wait times as well as patients being cared for in non-traditional areas, or what we have had to do is put two patients to one room to be able to accommodate everybody and take care of everybody. So, we do appreciate your patience with that. But we are well prepared and we do this every year."
RELATED VIDEO: White Lung Syndrome: 'that's not a real condition'
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
