the recent surge in respiratory infections is overwhelming children s hospitals across the country. many have either reached or are near capacity. and rsv is partly to blame. with us is dr. sarah ashcrom from children s hospital here in washington, d.c. tell us what you re seeing. we re seeing, exactly as you said, very high numbers of children coming through our doors with respiratory illnesses. you mentioned rsv, that s one of the viruses. we re seeing flu, rhino virus. what s happening is the children are coming in in higher numbers and sicker than we would expect them to be. talk to me more about that. it s not just higher numbers, but also severity of cases? absolutely, 100%. we re seeing higher numbers early in the season. what s happening is the typical rsv, most kids are going to have an rsv infection at some point.
develop severe infection like knew moan yachlt over the last month, 32 states have reported an increase in rsv cases. in san diego, 50 patients tested positive for rsv at rady children s hospital where the chief medical officer says it is unheard of. two to three times what they ever experienced. in richmond, virginia, haley mitchell s 13-month-old son was hospitalized. that was mine and his first time being in a helicopter. of course, it was very scary. you know, the emts in the back told me there was a couple tombs they had to give him oxygen while flying. back in connecticut, at gayle new haven children s hospital you have ever seen numbers like this before? we have not seen numbers to this degree this early. rsv cases in the emergency department have nearly doubled over the past week. right now every bed in this pediatric icu is full. 90% of them respiratory illnesses. most kids get an rsv infection