San Francisco Bay Area children’s hospitals enacting contingency plans to deal with RSV surge

(SF Gate) As a surge in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases sweeps across the Bay Area, the region’s children’s hospitals are enacting contingency plans to deal with an increase in patients. UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Mission Bay has erected a tent with seven additional beds, and the hospital’s Oakland location is using an annex with 12 extra beds. RSV may present as a mild cold in adults but can cause serious lung infections in young children, especially infants. Chief Medical Officer Joan Zoltanski said the hospital is used to seeing a surge in respiratory illnesses in the winter, but this large volume of cases is higher than normal and is also happening much earlier in the season.