The rise in cases of respiratory infections in babies and children in Germany is leaving pediatric hospitals on edge, intensive care specialists warned Thursday.
The association of intensive care (DIVI for its acronym in German) indicated that the seasonal increase in cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and the lack of nursing professionals, are causing a “catastrophic situation” in hospitals.
RSV is a common and highly contagious virus that affects almost all infants and children up to the age of two, and some can become seriously ill.
Experts assure that the easing of the restrictions applied to combat the Covid-19 pandemic will be causing an increase in the number of babies and children with RSV, whose immune system is not prepared to fight the virus.
Hospital doctors are currently facing very difficult decisions about which sick children should be hospitalized, due to a shortage of available beds, according to the same source.
In some cases, patients with RSV and other serious conditions are being transferred to hospitals in regions of Germany where intensive care resources are even more scarce.
The association warned that a recent study revealed that there are fewer than 100 pediatric beds available nationwide and that the situation could get worse.
Sebastian Brenner, head of the pediatric intensive care department at Dresden University Hospital, told German television channel N-Tv that the situation could worsen in the coming weeks: “We are observing this in Switzerland and in France,” he added. , about the risks of the available treatment become even more scarce.
The German Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, has announced today that the Government will relax some regulations, to facilitate the transfer of nursing professionals, and will contribute another 600 million euros to pediatric hospitals over the next two years.
In November, the European Commission authorized the world’s first single-dose drug to treat RSV.
Source: TSF
