Page 34 - BusinessWest January 9, 2023

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Tripledemic
Kenton has observed the same phenomenon in the workforce. “So many nurses in this profession are either retired or gone on to something else,” he said. “This is everywhere, across the board. Every hospital is deal-
“With COVID, we had people mask- ing, home from school, and we had no flu; there was no RSV. Then, when we started to normalize, these viruses made their way back.”
DR. MARK KENTON
ing with staffing issues. Even with [patient] volumes overall being down, when you get the tripledemic, it’s become a significant strain on resources within the hospital.”
What Is RSV?
Flu is a common term, and most people are now well-versed in COVID, but not everyone knows what RSV is, and how it deviates from other respi- ratory ailments.
While RSV results in mild, cold-like symptoms for most — a runny nose, nasal congestion, cough, and fever — for some, especially infants and older adults, it can lead to serious illness, though only a small percentage of young patients develop severe disease and require hospitalization, said Dr. John O’Reilly, chief of General Pediatrics at Baystate Children’s Hospital.
“Those hospitalized often have severe breathing problems or are seri- ously dehydrated and need IV fluids. In most cases, hospitalization only lasts a few days, and
complete recovery usu-
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common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, but can be more severe in certain patients.
“We were seeing a lot of RSV a few weeks ago, but it seems that may be tapering off now,” Kenton added, noting that Mercy has seen both chil- dren and adults with RSV, a condition that can be especially precarious for infants. “We worry about them getting RSV; a lot of local hospitals have been inundated with pediatric RSV.”
Indeed, RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and viral pneu- monia in children under age 1. The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention (CDC) reports that approximately 58,000 children under age 5 are hospitalized each year with the infection. Most infants are infected before age 1, and virtually all children have had an RSV infection by age 2. RSV can also affect older children, teenagers and adults.
Spiros Hatiras says he’s not sure who came up with that phrase ‘triple- demic.’ He’s quite sure, though, it wasn’t someone in healthcare.
“It had to be someone in the media — they’re the ones who like to attach names to things like this,” said Hatiras, president and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center.
But it’s as good a term as any to describe a convergence of COVID, flu, and RSV. In some parts of the country, this convergence is filling hospitals and putting additional strain on staffs already taxed by shortages of nurses and other healthcare professionals. But Hatiras told BusinessWest he hasn’t really seen much of any of the above at his hospital — from the indi- vidual ailments to the additional strain on people and resources.
Indeed, he reported very few, if any, COVID cases, noting that there isn’t anyone in his hospital solely because of COVID, though some are there
for another reason and test positive for COVID. Meanwhile, he reports few cases of RSV, and flu numbers that are similar to previous years and noth- ing out of the ordinary.
The Emergency Department is crowded, he acknowledged, but not because of this tripledemic; rather, it’s because fewer staff members — a result of the ongoing workforce crisis, especially in healthcare — are tend- ing to what would be considered a normal amount of patients.
ally occurs in about one
Tripledemic
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34 JANUARY 9, 2023 << HEALTHCARE >>
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