Wave of infection RS virus among babies, children’s wards in Amsterdam hospitals full Inland

The nursing wards and pediatric intensive care in the Amsterdam region are full. “We are inundated with children with RS,” said Hans van Goudoever, head of pediatrics at Emma Children’s Hospital, after a report in Het Parool.

Outbreak

In adults, the RS virus can cause a severe cold. In babies younger than six months, it can lead to great distress. Normally, the virus mainly circulates in the cold months, but last winter there was no outbreak, because the virus was unable to spread due to the corona measures. Now that the measures have largely been relaxed, the pathogen is still circulating.

Figures from research institute Nivel confirm this. Last week, there were about 100 cases of bronchiolitis per 100,000 children aged 0 to 4. This is an inflammation of the smallest air tubes in the lungs that can be caused by the virus. In 2019, this figure was half as much at this time of year, and in 2020 it was even further below that. The numbers today are lower than during winter peaks. In 2019, Nivel recorded nearly 250 cases of bronchiolitis per 100,000 young children at its peak, up from around 275 the year before.

In the Emma Children’s Hospital, however, the current outbreak would also be considered significant in the winter months, according to Van Goudoever. There are currently four patients with the virus in the ICU, out of a total of ten beds.

Lung infections

But according to professor Louis Bont of the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, who is also a specialist in the field of RS, the spread of the virus is not that bad nationally. “A few weeks ago it was super busy in Rotterdam, now in Amsterdam. But the virus doesn’t really seem to be spreading all over the country.” According to Bont, this has to do with the corona measures that still apply, such as not shaking hands. “The RS virus spreads through direct contact, not through the air.” One child with RS is currently in IC in his own hospital.

The Rijnstate Hospital in Arnhem, the ETZ in Tilburg and the Maastricht UMC+ also report that they do not see any particularly high numbers of RS patients. More lung infections in general are seen in Maastricht, probably due to the release of the corona measures.

If one of the seven children’s ICs in the Netherlands is full, children may have to be moved to another region. That is very annoying for parents, emphasizes Bont, but it happens more often, even without RS. “It may well be that the presence of an extra RS patient can give just the drop.”

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