CHICAGO — Illinois children’s hospitals are seeing a surge of kids with respiratory illnesses, leaving some hunting for beds.
“It’s skyrocketed since school started,” said Dr. John Cunningham, physician-in-chief at University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital, of the number of families seeking care at Comer. “This is the most challenging period we’ve experienced since March 2020.”
It’s not unusual for children’s hospitals to see surges of sick kids each winter, as illnesses such as the flu and RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, spread. But it’s rarer to get a big influx of children with respiratory illnesses in August and September, and, at some hospitals, it’s posing a particular challenge this year because of staffing shortages.
