UNC Children's Hospital opens new pediatric surge unit to account for RSV cases

RSV cases are going down across the state. In the first week of November, there were close to 1,100 cases. Last week, there were 810.

UNC Children's leaders said even with the drop in cases, they are struggling to keep up. The new unit is already full, and doctors told WRAL News they might have to expand it.

“I have never seen a surge quite like this with RSV,” said UNC Children’s Hospital chief physician Dr. Stephanie Duggins Davis.

Davis said the strain from RSV and other illnesses is the reason the hospital opened up six new beds in a pediatric surge unit.

“We just were unable to accept all the transfers we were being called about across the state here in North Carolina and we were boarding a lot of children in our emergency room,” Davis said.

Flu cases are on the rise. Last week, the hospital saw 430 flu cases along with 185 RSV cases. Duggins Davis said the demand for care still hasn’t reached its peak.

“Which is why we’re getting prepared,” Davis said. “Typically, winter is our busiest time from a viral perspective and just from respiratory infections in general.

“Again, it’s not just RSV and flu. There are a lot of viruses out there.”

Davis said the strain her hospital and others across the country are feeling is all because of a regionalization of pediatric care.

“Some pediatric hospitals that would admit children like this, they don’t have pediatric floors anymore,” she said.

The idea is for the surge unit to run for six weeks, but that plan could change.