Respiratory illness forces school to close for the rest of the week
By Andy Alcock
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KANSAS CITY, Kansas (KMBC) — A surge in an upper respiratory illness has shut down a Kansas City, Kansas, school and is filling pediatric wards around the metro area.
Micah Nelson turned 9 months old on Wednesday. He’s being treated at the University of Kansas Health System for RSV and has been in and out of the pediatric ward of the hospital for about a week.
“He was grunting and making a lot of noises when he was breathing. So, we knew he was having some trouble,” said Melody Nelson, Micah’s mother.
“The shifts have been long. There have been a lot of admissions and bed shuffling to make sure we take care of the ill children,” said Dr. Shawn Sood, pediatric critical care physician at the University of Kansas Health System.
Respiratory illnesses have shut down Christ the King School in Kansas City, Kansas, for the rest of the week. A custodial crew spent Wednesday spraying disinfectant and wiping down surfaces at the school.
According to principal Cathy Fithian, 50 to 60 of the 250 students were out sick and seven of her 21 teachers have flu, RSV or COVID-19.
“It was a tough decision because the protocol is not so much how many students are out when the school might close, it is how many faculty and staff. If you can’t staff your building and have teachers in the classrooms, you just can’t have school,” she said.
Overland Park Regional Medical Center is reporting a 100% increase in patient volume with up to 60 children treated daily in the pediatric ER over the past few weeks with viral infections, mostly RSV.
The Kansas City, Missouri Health Department reported from Oct. 23 to Oct. 30, there was an average of 90 ER visits per day for children under 18 to the emergency room for problems with flu-like symptoms, including RSV.
That same week has far outpaced any other previous year since at least 2017.
The Kansas City Health Department reports that children under 18 are 10 times more likely to be seen in emergency rooms for those respiratory infections than adults.
Centers for Disease Control Data for the Midwest Region, which includes Kansas and Missouri, shows a significant spike in RSV cases since Oct. 1.
According to the Unified Government Public Health Department, in addition to increased hospitalizations for RSV and flu, COVID-19 is still circulating in our area and is likely to increase this winter.
The health department also encourages people to get flu and COVID-19 vaccines if they haven’t already done it.
RSV is especially troublesome for children and infants under 2 years old.
“The main treatment is supportive care, oxygen therapy and IV fluids if they need it,” Sood said.
If children that young are having trouble breathing, Sood recommended seeking medical attention for them as quickly as possible. He also recommended hand washing and disinfecting surfaces to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses like RSV.
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