Respiratory infections strike region

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http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/030102/new_strike.shtml

Friday, March 1, 2002

4:06 a.m. CT

Respiratory infections strike region

By JESSICA RAYNOR

jraynor@...

Feverish, wheezing children packed Memorial Hospital of Texas County in

Guymon, Okla., last month, carrying with them the most cases of respiratory

tract infections the hospital has had in at least five years.

The hospital tested all of the sick children and in February found 44, most

under the age of 2, infected with the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV),

said Liz Lim, infection control nurse at the hospital. The virus attacks the

lower respiratory tract and produces flulike symptoms.

That's compared with just four cases in January, she said.

" That's what's been hitting us pretty hard, " Lim said. " That's alarming,

very alarming. "

Upper respiratory tract infections, influenza, RSV and pneumonia have

plagued many area residents in recent months, filling hospitals and working

hospital employees hard.

RSV is a highly contagious disease that can develop into pneumonia and is

similar to influenza in that it cannot be treated with antibiotics.

Respiratory therapists have been running ragged making sure the children get

their treatments, and pediatricians have kept a close watch on the babies in

the infant intensive care unit, Lim said.

Symptoms range from a runny nose to low-grade fever to intense wheezing that

leaves the young patients dehydrated.

A significant number of Guymon's patients had serious cases of RSV,

requiring hospital stays or repeated visits to the hospital, Lim said. She

said she heard of one day-care center that closed for a week to make sure

everyone got well.

" It's pretty scary when it's a 6-month-old or 2-month-old, " Lim said. " When

you get to that age, everyone gets alarmed. "

Guymon's situation has calmed a bit. In the last week, only one child was

diagnosed with RSV, Lim said.

Golden Plains Community Hospital in Borger has diagnosed many cases of RSV

and upper respiratory tract infections, said Rawlins, marketing

director for the hospital.

" We're staying pretty full, " Rawlins said. " We're pretty much staying that

way. We've had a lot of bad, bad colds, with the little ones turning to

RSV. "

Lim said the Guymon hospital has seen about eight cases of influenza since

the beginning of the year, about normal.

Influenza hasn't been too much of a problem at Borger and other area

hospitals, thanks to an increase in people taking flu shots.

In the Texas Panhandle, 4,410 people took flu shots this season, which

starts in October, said Slemmons, public information officer for the

Texas Department of Health in Lubbock. In 2000, that number was 2,521, he

said.

But other cold-season viruses have continued to cause trouble at Pampa

Regional Medical Center. Most of the 42-bed medical and surgery unit and its

eight-bed ICU have patients suffering upper respiratory infections and

pneumonia, said Terry , director of marketing and public relations at

the hospital.

" That's what's keeping our hospital full, " he said. " These cases are for

infants through all ages. (These viruses) are not just hitting one age

group. It's a wide range of ages. "

Amarillo hospitals report treating all types of illnesses and being busy,

but no busier than usual for this time of year.

" It's a multiple of things, " said Caytie , marketing director for

Northwest Texas Healthcare System.

Patients are still being accepted, said Barlow, director of corporate

communications for Baptist St. 's Health System.