SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – The RSV outbreak has intensified in the Bay Area, causing some pediatric intensive care units to hit their maximum capacity.
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"Right now, there are capacity levels reached at UCSF Benioff in San Francisco," Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at UCSF, told KCBS Radio.
Currently, children in the emergency room are waiting for beds to open. Chin-Hong said this rate of case increase has not been seen in more than five years.
A factor that is further concerning health experts is that cases usually start to rise in November. "We're seeing it very abnormally early this year, but I’m holding on hope that we'll also end early," the UCSF specialist said.
Chin-Hong also explained that the RSV numbers at UCSF are unique. "We've got kind of the sickest of the sick in the area, in the region, so it may not be representative necessarily of the community," he said.
Overall, California is doing better than some states on the East Coast and in the South West, where bed capacity has been at 90% for much longer. According to Chin-Hong, pediatric ICUs across the country are three quarters full right now, when that number is usually around two-thirds or less.
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