Seattle Children’s Hospital officials said they are seeing twice as many patients compared to a typical October, and the emergency department is sometimes running at 200% of its physical capacity.
KIRO 7 News StaffSEATTLE — Hospitals across the country, including ones in Western Washington, are dealing with a spike in cases of RSV — respiratory syncytial virus — a common respiratory virus.
Dr. Russell Migita, who works in Seattle Children’s emergency room, said the seasonal surge is coming earlier than usual. Normally, cases peak in February, but it currently appears they will peak in November. Migita said parents should not hesitate to take their children to the emergency room if they notice them having trouble breathing, such as persistently breathing faster than one breath per second.