Hospital admissions surge as multiple respiratory viruses circulate among kids: ‘We’ve got a full house’ - NOLA.com

Mark Kline, physician in chief at Children’s Hospital New Orleans.

The two viruses are indistinguishable from one another on the tests most hospitals use.

Tests given at Children’s for these viruses are coming back positive 40% of the time – an “extraordinary figure,” said Kline.

Most hospitals don't have the testing for that strain, and Kline said Children's in New Orleans has yet to see a case.

Influenza A is also showing up earlier and at higher numbers than typical, with about 19% of tests coming back positive at Children’s.

The number of tests coming back positive for RSV is about 1 in 5 at OLOL recently.

At Children’s, tests come back positive for COVID about 2% of the time.

Kline said children’s hospitals in Birmingham, Atlanta and Texas are full, too, according to colleagues there.

The sheer number of viruses pelting the pediatric systems at once comes at a time when hospitals are typically preparing staff to care for patients during the winter, their busiest season.

A lack of immunity from decreased exposure to viruses over the last few years may also be contributing. 

"There’s sort of a cohort of young children out there at this point who have not become infected with these viruses over last couple years," said Kline