A notice on the Sabará Hospital Infantil website, in Consolação, in the capital of São Paulo, alerts parents to the hospital and emergency room capacity. At the moment, priority is given to the care of children with more severe conditions. For the others, there is no way to estimate the waiting time. The contingency plan is necessary due to the high number of respiratory cases.
For pediatrician Felipe Lora, medical director of Sabará, the situation is not new. “We are experiencing the seasonal peak of every year. There was an exception, in 2020 and 2021, because of the pandemic and social isolation. Since March, we have been going through something very similar to what we experienced in 2019 and 2018. These are viral respiratory diseases , from the most varied causes”, explains Lora.
According to the specialist, the virus that most attacks children is the respiratory syncytial. In addition to it, there are rhinovirus, parainfluenza 3, bocavirus, adenovirus and metapneumovirus.
This Thursday (23), the ICU occupancy rate reached 87.3%; in the inpatient unit (individual rooms, where patients with milder conditions remain and who do not require intensive care) the rate is 97.1%. As a result, the emergency room is also full, according to the doctor. Between June 2nd and 16th, the ICU had 92% occupancy and the inpatient unit, 92%.
In addition to washing your hands well and wearing masks, which is recommended from the age of two, the orientation is to avoid taking children to school if they are sick — any sign of fever or more important symptom that is not allergic or usual. , especially respiratory, a cough with secretion, for example.
“To reassure parents, the information we can give is that it will reduce in the coming weeks. Traditionally, the peak of these seasonal diseases is from March to June, and has been behaving as in the pre-pandemic years”, says the doctor.
In the emergency room of Hospital Santa Catarina, in Bela Vista (central region), the situation is the same: the waiting time is immeasurable due to the high number of respiratory cases. The notice also appears prominently on the institution’s portal.
On this Thursday, there were 54 pediatric patients hospitalized. Of these, 42 were diagnosed with respiratory problems, 17 in the ICU and 25 in the inpatient units —occupancy of 65% and 58%, respectively.
On June 2 and 16, there were 33 and 28 hospitalized for the same reason, respectively.
At Santa Catarina Hospital, the prevalence of pediatric care involves respiratory cases, bronchiolitis, Covid-19 and pneumonia. The institution has 43 pediatric beds in the inpatient units and 26 in the ICU.
The report also asked for data from Hospital Sírio-Libanês, but did not receive a response until the publication of this text.
Public network
At the Menino Jesus Municipal Children’s Hospital, a reference in the care of children and adolescents in the city of São Paulo, the occupancy rate of the pediatric ICU on this Thursday was 90%.
In total, the municipal public network has 368 pediatric ward beds and 131 ICU beds for this public. On this date, 347 are employed in the ward (94%) and 111 (85%) in the ICU.
According to the Municipal Health Department, with the arrival of winter, an increase in calls and hospitalizations for respiratory diseases is expected, especially the respiratory syncytial virus and Covid-19.
Sought, the State Department of Health did not inform the data of the hospitals located in the capital of São Paulo. In a statement, the ministry stated that it has about 770 pediatric ward beds, with 55.3% occupancy, and 400 ICU beds, of the same type, with 49.6% occupancy.
On June 2, ICU beds registered 49.7% occupancy and ward beds 51.6%. On June 16, occupancy was 48.9% in the ward and 46.2% in the ICU.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
The moving average of the total number of children hospitalized (ICU and ward) per day due to some SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) also increased in the state hospitals Darcy Vargas (Morumbi) and Infantil Cândido Fontoura (Mooca), and in the Hospital Municipal Infantil Menino Jesus (central region).
According to data from the SP Covid-19 Info Tracker platform, created by researchers from USP and Unesp with support from Fapesp, between the 1st and 26th of June, the increase was 28.57% — the moving average went from 42 for 54 hospitalized.
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