Overseas Network, October 24. According to the ABC report on October 23, with the surge in pediatric patients with respiratory diseases in the United States, hospitals across the United States are becoming overwhelmed. Experts have warned that the United States could usher in a severe flu season in the coming months.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that hospitals across the U.S. are being “flooded” with pediatric patients with respiratory illnesses, and the occupancy rate of about 40,000 available beds has reached 71 percent. “In addition to COVID-19, other respiratory viruses are playing a role, and now the number of flu cases is increasing,” said Charlotte Hobbs, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Michael Coster, director of pediatric infectious diseases at a children’s hospital on the island, also said that from mid-September to mid-October, the number of young patients admitted to the local hospital for respiratory syncytial virus doubled, “some even from 100 patients. Came from miles away because their local pediatric hospital was overcrowded or closed.”
Last week alone, 1,674 patients were hospitalized with flu complications, up from 1,332 the week before, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At present, it is mainly young people who seek medical treatment in medical institutions. Dr. John Brownstein, of Boston Children’s Hospital, said: “Typically, we see an increase in flu cases that might start in November or December, with a peak in February. But going into October, we’ve seen a rise in the U.S. Flu cases have increased.” Brownstein said the current flu season in the U.S. is developing rapidly, but it has not yet reached its peak. Some experts also said that part of the reason for the increase in flu cases may be related to the relaxation of restrictions on the new crown epidemic. As a potentially severe flu season approaches, many people who are not in good health are more likely to get sick.