(C) Wisconsin Watch
This story was originally published by Wisconsin Watch and is unaltered.
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'Tripledemic' is trapping families in perpetual cycle of illness [1]
['Olivia Herken', 'Amber Arnold', 'State Journal', 'Ssm Health', 'Ruthie Hauge']
Date: 2023-01
Alyssa Watts Ransom’s daughter, Emilia, had only been in day care for 10 days when she started to feel sick.
At first, the nearly 4-month-old only had a cough and congestion. But her symptoms kept getting worse, and on Thanksgiving morning — more than a week from the onset of Emilia’s symptoms — Watts Ransom and her husband woke up to the sound of their daughter struggling to breathe.
They went to urgent care, where she tested positive for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and was later hospitalized for two days.
“It was pretty terrifying, especially because she’s our first baby,” Watts Ransom said.
This cold and flu season has been uglier than most, with an increase in RSV and influenza cases that are mingling with COVID all at once to create what some are calling a “tripledemic.“
It’s all hitting young children especially hard, because they are more susceptible to getting severely sick when they contract RSV and influenza.
This is “probably our worst influenza season this early that we’ve ever seen,” said Dr. Danielle Gindlesberger, a family practice physician with SSM Health.
Pediatric hospitals in the state are “very full” of children battling RSV, Gindlesberger said. Some young patients are being rerouted to other hospitals for care.
The number of cases of influenza in Wisconsin and across the nation has skyrocketed in recent weeks; last week set a record for the number of positive flu tests, even though peak flu season isn’t usually until January.
Fewer people are getting the flu vaccine. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 31% of Wisconsinites received this year’s flu shot as of Dec. 8, a decline from previous years.
The increased illnesses likely are part of the fallout from the COVID pandemic, Gindlesberger said.
“We’re returning to seeing family and associating with others and having group gatherings and people are just not masking,” she said. “So, the three-year reprieve that we had where RSV and influenza weren’t huge, we are out of that reprieve and we’re seeing a whole lot more of it.”
It’s leaving parents with tough questions: How sick is too sick to go to school or day care? Is this just a common cold or something worse? Can I take another day off work? And should I send them back to the place they keep getting reinfected?
‘Never sick like this before’
When symptoms appear, parents aren’t sure exactly what to do, especially when the swell of cases is overwhelming the health care system, making it hard to get in to see a doctor.
Bridget Krueger had to get creative when her 10-year-old daughter woke up in the middle of the night with severe ear pain.
The mom of three was familiar with the juggling act that comes when one of her children becomes sick.
“Trying to figure out, OK, how am I going to keep her home, get my other two at school and try to get into an appointment, which usually they’re booked,” Krueger said.
She decided to use Pivotal Health, an at-home urgent care service. A provider came to their house to run a COVID, strep and influenza test, and was able to prescribe medication for the ear infection.
Other families are making constant calls to nurse hotlines, or they’re making frequent trips to urgent care clinics that add another layer of exposure to everyone.
And when a patient does get in, it’s often hard for doctors to treat what they’re seeing. Symptoms of the various illnesses are often similar, so doctors have to rely on tests. But not everyone’s insurance covers the tests, and test results are getting backlogged.
There’s also a shortage of Tamiflu, which treats influenza, and other cold and flu medication. Even if you get a diagnosis, you might not get the medication you need.
Illness has been moving through Asha Giri’s family like a revolving door this fall, including RSV and ear infections. At one point, her family members were so sick that they all were struggling to sleep because the four of them were coughing through the night.
“We were never sick like this before,” Giri said. During peak COVID times, they didn’t get sick very often because they were taking precautions such as washing their hands often, staying home and wearing masks.
Big Oak Child Care Center on Madison’s East Side is also battling more frequent and severe illnesses.
“We are seeing it come in more waves for us. It’s almost like once one or two kids have some sort of virus, it seems to get shared with everybody,” said Jenn Bilderback, Big Oak’s administrative director.
But once everyone is back and healthy, the moment is fleeting.
“We see another wave come through of something else,” Bilderback said.
Gray area
These illnesses are coming back stronger this year, but they remain ambiguous. Many of them have similar symptoms, making it hard to tell which illness a child has and whether attending school or day care is OK.
“With COVID now after we’ve been in it for two years, there’s more black-and-white policies,” Bilderback said. “And with the other viruses, there isn’t.”
Many use fever as guidance, a symptom that signals a child should probably stay home. But beyond that, there’s little guidance.
Giri said she has had to make tough calls to send her 4-year-old son to preschool, especially because not all families take symptoms as seriously. This fall he’s had to miss a lot of school.
“I know the schools are working as hard as they can,” Giri sad. “But still, his school is like a center for disease.”
Krueger, who sends her children to St. Francis Xavier Catholic School in Cross Plains, said she isn’t as worried about RSV because her children are older. But she’s constantly on guard and making tough decisions.
Some days a child may need to go into school late to get more rest when they aren’t feeling well. Or someone may have to miss a school event or a birthday party because someone in the house is sick.
“It is a struggle for families because you’re balancing. OK, we don’t want them to miss school. But we also want to make sure they can learn when they’re at school and they’re not getting other kids sick,” Krueger said.
Plus, when one person gets sick, it’s bound to hit the rest of the family soon, so Krueger has to try to predict who’s going to get sick next and when.
Staff at Big Oak work closely with parents on a case-by-case basis, trying to find common ground with them when it comes to deciding whether their child can come into day care.
The child care center is small, so there’s no space to consistently keep sick children separated from their peers. Also, the children they serve are 5 years old and younger, and often put toys in their mouths and have trouble social distancing, making it nearly impossible to stop the spread of germs.
“You feel so sorry and you feel for these families and these parents that need to work,” Bilderback said.
Parents try to find compromises, such as sending children in for half a day. Some parents choose to send their children in masks, too.
But there are areas where the staff can’t budge, such as when a child has a fever or isn’t well enough to participate in class. The child has to stay home.
As 4-month-old Emilia has been feeling better, it’s been a hard decision for Watts Ransom to send her back to day care, the place where they believe Emilia was infected with RSV in the first place. They planned to take her back the week after Thanksgiving.
“We had her in the car seat, ready to go, and I said, ‘Let’s keep her home one more day,’” Watts Ransom said.
“There’s no way to be truly safe. It just feels like it’s inevitable that she’s going to get sick. It’s inevitable that we are all going to get sick, so you have to be realistic,” she said. “But at the same time, you feel a little bit helpless.”
Emilia went back to day care the next day. But seemingly like clockwork, they all started to get runny noses again over the weekend.
“Basically, we’re just kind of waiting for the next cold,” Watts Ransom said. “Assuming that if it’s not here already, it’s going to be here soon.”
PHOTOS: Madison kindergartners, masked up and ready to learn
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[1] Url:
https://madison.com/news/local/education/local_schools/tripledemic-is-trapping-families-in-perpetual-cycle-of-illness/article_0d7d5725-db12-5163-bf35-8d33398fd71a.html
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