Respiratory diseases not pressuring Fort Smith metro hospitals

Like many of the nation, the Fort Smith metro is seeing a rise within the flu and different respiratory diseases as the vacations strategy, however officers with space hospitals say they aren’t seeing a pressure.

On Dec. 5, the Facilities for Illness Management (CDC) issued a press release concerning RSV, flu and COVID-19 stating that medical doctors throughout the nation had been seeing elevated ranges of respiratory viruses together with RSV, flu and COVID-19.

“Particularly for RSV and flu, these ranges are larger than we typically see this time of 12 months. Ranges of flu-like sickness, which incorporates individuals going to the physician with a fever and a cough or sore throat are at both excessive or very excessive ranges in 47 jurisdictions and that’s up from 36 jurisdictions simply final week,” the assertion stated.

The CDC estimated that since Oct. 1, there have already been not less than 8.7 million diseases, 78,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths from flu throughout the nation. Reported flu hospital admissions, which had been already excessive for this time of 12 months, had almost doubled over the last reporting interval.

“In comparison with the week prior, hospitalizations for flu proceed to be the best we now have seen presently of 12 months in a decade, demonstrating the considerably earlier flu season we’re experiencing,” CDC officers stated.

In Fort Smith, Mercy Fort Smith and Baptist Well being-Fort Smith have seen growing numbers of flu previously couple of weeks, the hospitals reported.

“We’ve seen quite a bit flu the previous few weeks,” stated Rep. Dr. Lee Johnson, R-Greenwood. Johnson can be the medical director for Fort Smith EMS and Southwest EMS and a working towards emergency room doctor. Johnson stated whereas flu numbers appear to be excessive, there had been much less COVID and RSV previously week.

“(We) had loads of RSV earlier within the fall, however it appears to have settled down,” he stated.

Mardi Taylor, senior media relations and communications specialist with Mercy Fort Smith, stated that whereas Mercy has seen growing numbers of flu and RSV over the previous couple of weeks, it has not been something overwhelming. She added that COVID hospitalizations had stayed regular till the primary of December.

“We jumped again as much as 14 hospitalized sufferers, the primary time we’ve been in double digits since October,” Taylor stated, noting that by Friday (Dec. 9), there have been solely 12 COVID sufferers within the hospital and two in ICU.

On Friday, Baptist Well being-Fort Smith was caring for 19 sufferers with the flu, 5 of which had been in essential care. Eight sufferers had been hospitalized with COVID-19 and two sufferers had RSV, stated Alicia Agent, hospital advertising and marketing supervisor.