BUFFALO, N.Y. — Medical experts say they are becoming increasingly concerned, as pediatric COVID cases and hospitalizations continue to surge from state to state.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "as of September 2, over 5 million children have tested positive for COVID since the start of the pandemic."
While Oishei Children's Hospital in Downtown Buffalo is not overflowing, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Stephen Turkovich says capacity is limited and space is tight, as hospital admissions continue to rise.
"As of today, over the last week in September, we've had seven admissions for COVID, so one a day. If we continue on this trend, we're going to meet where we were in April in terms of ER visits for COVID, which was our peak month thus far for COVID," Dr. Turkovich said.
Oishei's ICU, pediatric floors and NICU are all busy, not just treating COVID cases, but other medical emergencies too. As far as COVID cases are concerned, Dr. Turkovich says cases vary.
"In the Emergency Department, I can tell you that we've had children that we admitted that were newborns all the way through 20 years old and everybody in between, so it certainly can affect any age range. They're very similar to adults symptom wise," Dr. Turkovich shares.
A major concern among medical experts now is the impact a return to in-person learning and the upcoming flu season, as well as other respiratory viruses like Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV), could have on this already concerning national spike amongst children.
"You know, right now we are already seeing a significant increase in RSV which really disproportionately affects younger kids, specifically babies and preschool aged children," Dr. Turkovich says. "If you look at our August and September now and compare it to November 2019, which was the beginning of our last RSV surge, they look almost identical."
On Tuesday, the Erie County Department of Health released new data showing that from August 29 to September 4, the highest positivity rates in the county were among people under the age of nineteen, with the newborn to 4-year-old group being among one of the greatest concerns.
Comparably speaking children are still at a lower risk when it comes to catching COVID and being hospitalized; however, Dr. Turkovich says, people of all ages need to diligently practice layering safety measures as much as possible. That includes, vaccinations, masking, physical distancing and sanitizing.
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