pediatrics

Acting New Mexico Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase said at a briefing Thursday that the peak of the pediatric RSV surge may now be behind us, but the kids who do have it remain sicker than usual.

Pediatric hospital units at New Mexico’s largest hospitals continue to fill due to an early surge of RSV and flu compounded by other viruses, including COVID. Health officials are not yet positive whether the early onset means the surge will also end sooner, but say it could peak in January and end in March.

Pediatric units across New Mexico are operating at or above capacity due to a simultaneous surge in COVID, flu and RSV, along with other viruses, among children. At a briefing Monday, representatives from the state’s largest hospital systems urged parents and guardians to practice prevention and at-home care when possible.

Nine New Mexico counties, including Bernalillo, have Medium community levels of COVID19 according to the latest CDC data. In contrast, the COVID transmission map that doesn’t include hospitalizations shows most of the upper half of the state shaded in red, or highest levels of COVID spread. Now the confluence of RSV, Flu, and COVID is filling up pediatric beds in hospitals.

An Albuquerque police officer was honored in front of the whole country during the State of the Union address earlier this week. While on duty, he met a…