RSV wave in Bavaria: Children's clinics "dramatically" overloaded - Holetschek with a clear message to Merkur.de
Created: 11/29/2022, 2:49 p.m
By: Felix Herz
DIVI spokeswoman Nina Meckel describes the RSV wave in Bavaria as "dramatic" and "precarious".
Health Minister Holetschek is now reacting to the crisis.
A precarious survey result is emerging: while the RSV wave is raging, an ongoing DIVI survey shows that around 40 percent of the intensive care beds cannot be operated.
RSV wave in Bavaria: Holetschek with a clear announcement at merkur.de – A state of emergency was declared in France.
DIVI spokeswoman with a dramatic appeal: Avoid triage in children - "A lot has to happen urgently!"
Munich – The corona numbers are falling, but another wave of illness is currently causing all healthcare workers great concern: the RSV wave.
It is a particularly dramatic mixture that is currently picking up speed - on the one hand there is a lack of intensive care beds for children, on the other hand small children are particularly affected by the respiratory disease.
Compared to
Merkur.de
, DIVI spokeswoman (DIVI = German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine) Nina Meckel raises the alarm.
RSV wave in Bavaria: "Precarious situation" - large part of the intensive care beds cannot be operated
RSV diseases have recently risen sharply - not only in Bavaria, but throughout Germany and in neighboring European countries.
A state of emergency was recently declared in France.
In an interview with our editors, Meckel describes the situation as "precarious".
You are currently suffering from a severe shortage of staff anyway, and the RSV wave is currently causing you to be “dramatically overloaded”.
RSV - what is it?
RSV stands for Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
It is a globally distributed pathogen that causes diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tract.
Children and adults usually only develop mild RS virus symptoms that are similar to cold symptoms – small children up to the age of two are particularly affected.
In the first three months of life, the infections can be particularly difficult, writes
lungeninformationsdienst.de
.
All information can be found here on the website.
A precarious survey result is emerging: "40 percent of the intensive care children's beds cannot be operated"
Many small children aged 0 to 3 years have to be ventilated because of an RSV infection - but there is a lack of intensive care beds.
In a nationwide survey, the final results of which will be officially presented on Thursday, December 1st, the figures collected would clarify the emergency situation.
"It is becoming apparent that probably 40 percent of the intensive care children's beds cannot be operated," explains Meckel.
This can be seen in the Bavarian hospitals: there is a lack of intensive care children's beds, especially in children's hospitals in Regensburg and Nuremberg.
The situation in Munich is also dramatic.
The reason for this is the acute shortage of staff in the nursing sector.
When asked whether corona failures would play a role, Meckel resignedly said: "It would be nice".
Because: If there were sick leave, the employees would come back in the foreseeable future - but since the nursing staff had migrated to other sectors, among other things because of the enormous workload, the situation is not only precarious in the short term.
(By the way: Our Bayern newsletter informs you about all the important stories from Bavaria. Register here.)
RSV wave in Bavaria: Dramatic situation in small children - research into the causes is ongoing
RSV infection is particularly dangerous for young children.
Due to the smaller lung size, the viruses cause faster and more extensive damage, explains Meckel.
So they have to be ventilated.
However, if this cannot be guaranteed, precisely because of the lack of intensive care beds, then the brain lacks oxygen.
Permanent damage occurs in the event of a longer or more persistent undersupply - Meckel does not call the current situation "dramatic" and "risky" for nothing.
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But there are RSV waves every year - why is it so bad this year?
We are still looking for answers.
But it is not because Corona damaged the children's immune systems.
However, the virus still plays a role: It is assumed that infections will be caught up in 2022.
In the last two years of the pandemic, small children and their older siblings have had less contact with the virus, partly because of daycare center closures.
Because it is normal for them to do this: "By the end of the second year, almost all children have had at least one RS virus infection," writes
lungeninformationsdienst.de
.
RSV wave in Bavaria: emergency in France - Holetschek with a clear message to Merkur.de
In France, the peak of the RSV wave was reached in the last few days.
The neighboring country responded with a state of emergency.
In Germany, according to Meckel, it is assumed that the peak of the local RSV wave will be reached around the coming weekend - about ten to twelve days after the peak in France.
In Bavaria, the RSV wave is taking on dramatic proportions - mainly because of the lack of nursing staff.
Health Minister Holetschek is now responding to the crisis situation.
© Addictive Stock / IMAGO / Sven Hoppe / dpa / archive image / Mercury collage
Bavaria's Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) thinks little of this and says on
Merkur.de
's request: "I see no reason for declaring a disaster, because I don't know what that should do." He warns against "imprudent quick shots".
Holetschek: "Unwelcome measures" - more patients per nurse
Nevertheless, there is no question that there is an urgent need for action.
"We now need solutions as quickly as possible," said Holetschek, looking at the RSV wave in Bavaria.
In view of the "dramatic nature of the exceptional situation", it is also necessary to take "unwelcome measures".
We are talking about the lower limits for nursing staff.
This sets a maximum number of patients per nurse to prevent them from being overburdened.
From Holetschek's point of view, the clinics must "deviate from this for a limited period".
Also, according to Holetschek, it should not be taboo to use adult staff on the children's wards.
According to the minister, the hospitals would have the opportunity to assert an exception against the health insurance companies.
In addition, one must consider "care for older children and adolescents with broken bones or other diseases whose treatment does not require specific pediatric expertise outside of special children's wards".
Holetschek will soon discuss this and other suggestions with experts, the statement said.
Staff shortage in the care sector: Holetschek wants the "hand on the bed"
Holetschek also has an answer to the great shortage of personnel that Meckel describes and for which she identifies migration after a long-lasting and excessive workload as the cause.
In contrast to Meckel, he also cites “current staff shortages as a result of corona, flu or other respiratory infections” as the reason for the bottlenecks, to which “increasing staff fatigue with the result of professional reorientation” also leads.
However, this is not the only problem, explains Holetschek - and refers to the "excessive bureaucracy".
It is important to avoid multiple documentation and to create simplifications.
The care of the patients must come first, and not useless bureaucracy, according to the Minister of Health: "The hand on the bed is now more important than the one at the desk."
Dramatic appeal: triage in pediatric medicine because of RSV wave?
The DIVI press spokeswoman Nina Meckel, meanwhile, emphasizes again to
merkur.de
the importance of becoming active - and brings the word of triage, which was feared from the Corona period, into play.
It describes the process in which physicians have to decide who to take care of - because of higher chances of treatment success - since there is not time and/or space for every patient.
So that it doesn't come to that, Meckel warns: "A lot has to happen urgently!"
(fhz)
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