Some Nevada hospitals seeing record volumes for pediatric patients as respiratory illnesses spread

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Across the state of Nevada some hospitals are filling up with young patients as respiratory illnesses rise.

The Nevada Hospital Association said statewide, pediatric occupancy rates are at 110% statewide, and pediatric intensive care unit is full at 100%.

Chief Medical Officer with Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, Steven Merta, said they’re experiencing nationwide trends.

“Sunrise Children’s Hospital is experiencing record volumes in our pediatric patients and most of them are admitted are with a respiratory illness and some of them have different viruses at the same time,” Merta said.

One of those respiratory illnesses spreading is RSV. Doctors tell us, the pandemic shielded some young children from catching it.

“We’re seeing is a bump up in the rates of RSV because we have these immune naïve patients whose immune systems haven’t seen this for the last three years so we’re kind of playing catchup,” Merta said.

And with the rise of respiratory viruses, parents seeking at-home care are on the hunt for nebulizers, which are breathing machines.

Inside LV Pharmacy & Medical Supplies, located off Sahara, we met a father who tried to purchase a nebulizer online and at CVS and called Walgreens with no luck. He said his options were Amazon or this store.

Angela Balian, the owner of LV Pharmacy & Medical Supplies, said parents started calling about nebulizers and albuterol in early October. Balian said that was uncommon.

She said right now nebulizers are the most popular product. They’re calling to restock every week.

“I think we bought nebulizers more so than I probably have dispensed in my 20 years of retail pharmacy,” Balian said.

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