HOLLAND, Mich. — Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) continues to hit West Michigan families and medical centers hard, including Holland Hospital. So, doctors, nurses, and other health officials have created a task force to help combat the surge before it gets worse.
“It’s really just a group of hospital leaders who are coming together on a weekly basis just to assess what our current situation is and to plan for the future, and make sure we have all the supplies and equipment and plans in place to manage whatever type of surge we’re going to see,” said Joe Bonello during a Zoom interview on Friday afternoon.
Bonello is the vice president and chief nursing officer at Holland Hospital. He said that currently they have six pediatric patients. However, they’ve seen a total of 50 since October.
That’s at least three times more than what they’re used to seeing, he said.
“With the kids who have trouble, they start having trouble breathing as well. So, in addition to those basic symptoms that can affect everybody, these kids also get wheezing,” he said. “You can tell they have trouble breathing by watching them breathe, if it looks like they’re having to work hard to breathe. Sometimes you can see them sucking in their ribs because they’re breathing.”
Bonello said that most of their patients are under two-months old. The patients with the most severe cases are being transferred to children’s hospitals throughout the state where they can receive a higher level of care.
“It’s the little kids that have the most trouble with RSV. They have smaller airways,” Bonello said. “So, any kind of irritation to their airway creates bigger problems for them.”
Bonello added that they expect the current surge to increase when families gather for the holidays. However, they hope teenagers and adults will do their part and practice good hygiene — hand-washing regularly and using hand sanitizer often — to help medical personnel combat the surge.
“It’s a lot of things that we’ve been talking about for the last couple of years. You know, if you’re sick, stay home,” Bonello said. “If you have to go out, put a mask on. A mask is not just to protect yourself, it’ll keep you from spreading your illness to other people.”
