KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — On most days, East Tennessee Children's Hospital is "relatively full" according to Dr. Joe Childs, the hospital's chief medical officer. That high volume of patients extends far beyond the hospital's walls.
"We have seen tremendous volumes in our emergency department, in our urgent care, in our outpatient testing center and in community pediatricians' offices," said Dr. Childs during a media briefing Wednesday. "That has tapered some, but it's still [been] very busy over the last two weeks."
In Knox County, more than 800 school-aged children tested positive for COVID-19 last week. That's a slight improvement from the two weeks prior.
"[We're] not sure about that yet," he said. "But, [we're] hoping maybe we're seeing some leveling of that trend of how much it's been rising in our age range."
Both RSV and COVID-19 have kept the staff at Children's Hospital busy, although it's uncommon for kids to require hospitalization for COVID-19.
"Certainly not very many at all and not very many end up in intensive care," Dr. Childs said.
As of Wednesday, there were 11 kids hospitalized for COVID-19 with two children in the intensive care unit.
A monoclonal antibody treatment can also help some higher-risk kids stay out of the hospital, although it's only authorized for children who are 12 years old and older.
"We've treated over 150 patients with this so far," Dr. Childs said. "Only a couple have had to come into the hospital and they've had mild courses."
Finally, Dr. Childs told parents to be on the lookout for any symptoms of MIS-C, a condition that causes inflammation in organs among children. Some studies linked it to COVID-19.
"It is highlighted by fever and then a lot of systemic symptoms," Dr. Childs said. "Especially abdominal pain, rash, but quite varied symptoms that appear just out of the blue."
He said it's rare, but treatable if you seek medical care. More than 175 kids in the state have had it, according to Tennessee Department of Health data.