Although the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at UMCG is extremely busy due to the influx of seriously ill children with RS virus, the situation is still manageable. The UMCG reports on Tuesday evening. As a result, no further national measures are currently needed.
On Tuesday afternoon, the seven Dutch teaching hospitals with pediatric CI held an emergency meeting. In it, the hospitals decided not to take any national measures for the time being to control the influx of sick children.
“At UMCG, the situation is still manageable, thanks to the great efforts of our employees,” says UMCG spokesman Joost Wessels. “The big picture is also that the situation is still very busy, but manageable. In all centers in the Netherlands there is very good cooperation with the hospitals in the area, so that patients who have spent a few days in the pediatric IC and who are fortunately doing a little better can quickly return to a nursing ward of other hospitals”.
According to Wessels, no further national measures are therefore necessary: “For each IC for children, it is examined whether individualization for pressure relief is necessary. Each hospital verifies from day to day whether or not it is possible to carry out the programmed interventions that lead to hospitalization in the pediatric IC. Also, no patients have yet been transferred from one pediatric IC to another due to crowds.”
The RS virus is a common cold virus. Most children suffer from “normal” cold ailments. Only a small percentage of children (one in a hundred newborns) become seriously ill. These children often have to go to the hospital.
