ST. GEORGE — Doctors sounded the alarm Thursday that many Utah hospitals, including in St. George, are at or nearing capacity because of a “blizzard” of respiratory syncytial virus — RSV — and influenza.

In the last week according to National Institute of Health statistics, St. George Regional Hospital has been on the average 96% full (309 of 312 patient beds), which is up 32% in the last two weeks. The hospital’s intensive care unit has been at an average of 77% capacity. COVID-19 has not been as much a factor, with an average of 25 daily COVID patients. 

“It’s a blizzard because there’s a storm of RSV and influenza all at the same time,” Dr. Tamara Sheffield, medical director for preventive medicine, said in a conversation over Zoom. “It’s an unusual season. It’s hit much earlier and much higher. What we’re seeing now we usually see in peak times in February. We can still be peaking higher.”

The hospital capacity issue in Southern Utah isn’t hitting every facility. While Kane County Hospital in Kanab is at an average of 76% capacity, no other local hospitals are above 70% capacity. Cedar City Hospital is averaging 28% capacity in the last week. But as a regional hospital, St. George is drawing patients from areas outside Washington County. 

But other hospitals in the state are getting hit hard, especially those with pediatric/children units, with the large majority of RSV hospitalizations being those either under 13 or over 65. Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, which also handles pediatric patients from Southern Utah, has been at or above capacity since November. 

Locally, St. George News has learned many parents are needing to wait days for their pediatricians to be able to see their children with so many sick children needing to be treated. 

Doctors say the RSV season is one “for the record books,” and Sheffield added influenza requiring hospitalization is at the “highest spike in 10 years.”

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says RSV is a mild cold in most adults, it can become severe bronchiolitis or pneumonia that can cause hospitalization or death in infants, young children and some elderly and the second-leading cause of death in children younger than 5.

This is leaving parents wondering just when their child is sick enough to need to see a doctor. Dr. Per Gesteland, pediatric hospitalist at University of Utah Health and Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, said it is all about the breathing. 

“Focus on trouble breathing. Trouble breathing is what lands you in the hospital,” Gesteland said. “If you start to see blue lips and blue extremities, that is pretty far down and that should be the emergency department for sure.”

Gesteland said RSV may have peaked in the last two weeks, but influenza is still climbing the mountain of maladies. 

COVID has not been as much a factor, he said, but health experts are concerned that the newest BQ and XBB strains could follow RSV and influenza as the next factor that fills hospital floors. A new study says the new variants are able to get past even the latest booster and could cause breakthrough infections, though the same study said people should be able to avoid hospitalizations and deaths if they are vaccinated. 

Nevertheless, as preparation for a possible new COVID surge, the White House on Thursday resumed the federal free home COVID test program. People can get four free at-home COVID-19 tests sent to their homes by going to covidtests.gov. 

That said, the home molecular COVID tests still aren’t 100% accurate as the PCR test performed at a medical facility or pharmacy. The most recent study has at-home tests inaccurate 20% of the time compared to 5% inaccuracy for the lab tests. The Federal Drug Administration issued a new recommendation last month that if someone tests negative for COVID from the at-home test to take a second test within 48 hours. 

As for what people should do if they are concerned about the bronchial blizzard putting a damper on their holiday gatherings, Sheffield said her first recommendation is to be vaccinated. She said the current flu vaccine has shown a great deal of effectiveness against the current flu strain.

After that, she said there’s nothing wrong with being extra careful. 

“It is not bad to wear a mask when you’re in a party or crowded environment,” Sheffield said. “We want to have fun and be together but we also need to realize it’s respiratory virus season, and we need to use all the tools at our disposal.”

During the taping in Salt Lake City for the PBS Utah Monthly Governor’s News Conference program on Thursday in response to a question from St. George News, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said as a government “we won’t be doing anything” with regard to requiring masks and will encourage people to take “appropriate actions,” saying that “people know what to do.”

“Even before COVID and the great mask wars of 2020, masks were an option for people,” Cox said, mentioning two siblings with cystic fibrosis who are high risk. “My sister was wearing a mask long before COVID ever happened this time of year if she had to go somewhere.

“This is where some common sense has to come into place for some people … if you’re sick then don’t go to work or church where you can infect lots of people. It’s just common sense and kindness. I still see people wearing masks at church and at grocery stores, and that’s perfectly fine.”

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