Texas Children's Hospital Treating Several Kids Under 5 Who Have Both RSV and COVID

A children's hospital in Texas is struggling to treat children who have been diagnosed with both respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19, finding that several of the children are under the age of five.

45 pediatric patients have come into the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston with symptoms of COVID-19, and they have reported "25 cases and counting" of children with both RSV and COVID-19 at all three of its campuses, said Dr. James Versalovic, interim pediatrician-in-chief at Texas Children's Hospital. More than half of those children have been hospitalized.

The respiratory syncytial virus is a common respiratory virus with cold-like symptoms, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"Most people recover in a week or two, but RSV can be serious, especially for infants and older adults," says the CDC. RSV can be life-threatening for children and young adults. Paired with COVID-19, children admitted with both viruses are worrying health care workers.

Approximately half of Texas Children's RSV/COVID-19 patients are infants, and most are children under 5, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The doctors are not positive that RSV and COVID-19 will make children sicker, however, co-infections can present different symptoms.

Versalovic said that children with RSV may have trouble breathing, wheezing, fever, lethargy and sleep apnea, whereas children with COVID-19 have symptoms such as fever, congestion and fatigue.

The Delta variant has affected the children far more than the traditional COVID-19 variant, and the children that suffer from RSV as well are worrying hospitals across the state.

The Delta variant makes up 80 percent of their new cases, said Versalovic, and the hospitalizations are continuing to climb.

"We've seen that number increase to greater than 20, and now greater than 30, hospitalized children and adolescents, which is notable for any children's hospital," he said.

"Some of these cases have been due to severe COVID-19 pneumonia or acute respiratory distress. More than a third of our cases of hospitalized children due to COVID-19 have required some form of critical care."

Versalovic warned that the Delta variant is "spreading like wildfire" among children and adolescents.

Texas Children's Hospital is postponing some non-emergency surgeries to make more beds available for COVID-19 patients. It had not reached full capacity yet, Versalovic confirmed.

The children's hospital announced on Wednesday morning that it would be requiring all of its 13,000 employees to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

A pediatrician in a different Houston hospital, Dr. Mary Krueger, shared that they are extending hours to meet the demand for their sick patients who come in with RSV.

"[It's] really almost unheard of to see this much RSV in the summertime," Krueger said, according to ABC13.

"We've definitely had to send some babies to the hospital," said Krueger. "Babies can't get to the point where they have difficulty breathing. They may end up in the hospital needing respiratory support. Some of them may end up intubated and on ventilators."

Newsweek reached out to Texas Children's Hospital for additional comment but did not hear back in time for publication.