OC Extends RSV Health Emergency As Cases Rise In Children

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — The Orange County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted to lengthen its emergency declaration to help the Children's Hospital of Orange County cope with an ongoing flood of young patients afflicted with upper respiratory viruses.

Orange County supervisors passed the extension at their Tuesday meeting in Santa Ana.

The emergency declaration has been vital in helping CHOC acquire Tamiflu, albuterol and other medications that have been in short supply across the country, Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, Orange County's chief medical officer, told the board.

The children's hospital is so packed that hospital staff are setting up beds wherever there is space, CHOC's chief medical officer, Dr. Sandip Godambe told the board. Hospital beds are being set up in discharge lounges, an oncology playroom gym and surgical playrooms, he said.

He also told the board that the emergency room lobby at CHOC had spilled into the hospital's driveway, and that the average number of visits in the emergency room during the RSV wave is 410 with a high of 489 — double the usual.

With the emergency declaration extended, the hospital will not only be able to get the medications it needs during the wave, but needed supplies such as syringes and gurneys.

RSV, a fairly common illness that can cause breathing difficulties in young children, are uncharacteristically high in California for this time of year, straining capacity in local hospitals.

Prevention methods used to ward off COVID-19 had kept influenza and RSV cases relatively low for the last two and a half years, experts have said. With masking mandates and other restrictions disappearing, this winter season could bring the flu and other respiratory viruses back with a vengeance, according to multiple reports.

“It’s like RSV took a two year sabbatical, was working out twice a day, meditating, eating well, and is now back and showing off,” tweeted Jessica Myers, a pediatric hospitalist in Palo Alto.

The county offered the following tips for residents:

• Do not go to school or work when you are symptomatic.
• Avoid close contact such as kissing, hugging, and sharing cups or eating utensils with people who are sick, and when you are sick.
• Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your upper shirt sleeve, not your hands.
• Mask when indoors or large group settings.
• Wash your hands frequently, especially before and after eating and using the bathroom.
• Get your flu shot and COVID-19 vaccines to prevent complications from these viral illnesses.

Patch staffer Kat Schuster contributed to this article.