COLUMBUS, Texas — With kids going back to school, there has been plenty for parents to worry about. But another virus is creating cause for concern as infections continue to rise.
Mom Breanna Cook said her 10-month-old son could barely breathe after being diagnosed with the virus called Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV. And as COVID-19 numbers rise and ICU beds fill-up, she’s sharing her story to warn others.
“I couldn’t comprehend it. I was more astonished how quickly it happened,” Cook said.
That’s how Cook said she felt when her baby Davone was put on life support just days after testing positive for RSV.
“He came down with symptoms in two days, tested positive on a Friday and then by Monday he was barely able to breathe," Cook said.
Cook said Davone spent more than a week in the ICU at Texas Children’s West.
Although doctors say RSV is usually a winter virus, it’s been popping up more and more in infants, specifically – part of a larger alarming trend with more kids testing positive not just for RSV, but also COVID, and in some cases, RSV and COVID at the same time.
Texas Children’s said they’ve diagnosed more than 30 co-infections.
“They were astonished of how bad it was in the summer,” Cook said.
It’s created an even greater demand for pediatric ICU beds as the area continues to grapple with fewer ICU beds in general.
According to Texas Children’s, 30 percent of its pediatric ICU beds are occupied by children with RSV.
Cook is grateful she got in, and the hospital was able to save her baby.
“What if we were a day later?” she said.
As the Delta variant surges, and more kids are exposed to RSV, she has a plea for everyone.
“The masks are so necessary for everyone right now, because everyone is really going through their own situation with these kids,” she said.
Texas Children’s said it has more than 30 inpatients with COVID right now, with 10 percent of ICU beds being occupied by COVID patients in recent days, but they do have capacity.