As cases of RSV – a viral respiratory infection that causes cold-like symptoms – spike in the U.S., the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children’s Hospital Association asked President Joe Biden to declare an emergency.
“The pediatric health care system is doing all it can to meet these overwhelming needs across the continuum of care and taking regional approaches to meet the growing demands,” said the groups in a letter sent to Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. “We need emergency funding support and flexibilities along the same lines of what was provided to respond to COVID surges.”
While cases of RSV (an acronym for respiratory syncytial virus) typically peak in December, there have already been enough cases in the U.S. to fill all the beds in Rhode Island’s lone children’s hospital. This week, the California Department of Public Health announced that a child under age 5 died due to flu and RSV infections.
“Young children are most vulnerable to severe complications from RSV and the flu, especially if they have underlying medical conditions or were born premature,” said the department. An estimated 58,000 to 80,000 are hospitalized for RSV annually in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the letter, the AAP and the CHA said the surge in pediatric respiratory cases is “alarming” since there is also an ongoing mental health emergency for children in the U.S.
“Significant capacity issues in pediatric hospitals and communities require flexibilities that can only be provided through a formal emergency declaration by the President and the HHS Secretary,” said the letter.
“These flexibilities have been provided during COVID-19 and were critical during peaks in infections and ongoing fluctuations of the virus. Children’s providers require the same capacity support as they strive to keep up with increasing needs of infants, children and adolescents.”
CHA CEO Mark Wietecha said that the “system is stretched to its limit and without immediate attention the crisis will only worsen.”
Specifically, the letter calls for Biden and Becerra for a declaration of an emergency under the Stafford Act or National Emergencies Act and a Public Health Emergency declaration.
“The dual emergency declarations requested would allow waiver of certain Medicare, Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) requirements so that hospitals, physicians, and other health care providers may share resources in a coordinated effort to care for their community and have access to emergency funding to keep up with the growing demands, specifically related to workforce support,” it explained.
Mark Del Monte, CEO of the AAP, said these measures would also help ensure that patients from underserved communities have improved access to care.
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