Doctors at Mass General Brigham say they’re seeing an “unprecedented surge” in case of RSV and that has the largest healthcare system in Massachusetts declaring what they’re calling a “capacity disaster.”

Dr. Brian Cummings, the Medical Director in the department of pediatrics at Mass General Brigham says, “All of us are full every single day. At any given time there are no available pediatric ICU beds, no general pediatric general care beds and almost all are operating over capacity.”

Mass General Brigham reports seeing 2,000 cases of RSV in the month of October, which they say is 20% to 60% percent higher than usual. In the first ten days of November they’ve already seen 1,000 cases.

Dr. Alexy Arauz Boudreau, the assistant chief of pediatrics primary care at Mass General Brigham says, “Over the last two years our children really haven’t been exposed to routine virus and now that they’re no longer masking or social distancing their immune systems are encountering new viruses.”

Medical professionals say almost all children will get RSV by the age of 5 and recover. But children younger than one or who have chronic conditions are at high risk and may need hospital care.

“Wait times in our emergency departments overall for adults and pediatric patients are nearing historic highs,” says Dr. Paul Biddinger, the chief preparedness officer at Mass General Brigham. “Recent reports from the Massachusetts Hospital Asociation of up to 8 hours in some emergency department.”

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