MOH probing whether RSV driving increased hospital admissions
Published:Tuesday | November 1, 2022 | 7:01 PM
Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has disclosed that his ministry will be sending samples for testing for the possible presence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in Jamaica, amid an over 400 per cent increase in severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) over a four-week period.
Increases in RSV have been noted in Canada and the United States of America recently.
Tufton explains that before the COVID-19 pandemic, the six sentinel sites typically saw between 19 and 21 SARI admissions each week, but from September 25 to October 22 the number of SARI admissions increased from four to 19, mainly among children.
Tufton says medical wards at the Bustamante Hospital for Children are above capacity with at least six patients in accident and emergency awaiting admission nightly. Spanish Town Hospital has also seen an increase in admissions and overcrowding.
The health minister says given the increases in RSV in North America, the ministry thought it prudent to send samples to the Caribbean Public Health Agency's laboratory to see whether RSV is driving the spike in respiratory illnesses locally.
He says the Pan-American Health Organisation has also been contacted for the provision of reagents to facilitate local testing.
The reagents are expected in Jamaica with seven to 10 days.
In the meantime, Tufton says the ministry has arranged to have children up to 12 years old treated for free at the University Hospital of the West Indies.
He has announced that health centres will open for extended hours as of Thursday and the National Health Fund's pharmacy at the Bustamante Hospital for Children will stay open until 10 p.m., nightly.
A health emergency was declared in Southern California's Orange County on Tuesday due to rapidly spreading viral infections that are sending more children to the hospital.
The county has seen a growing number of children with RSV, which can cause severe breathing problems for babies.
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