‘Respiratory virus crisis.’ Tri-Cities hospitals full, medicines in short supply

Tri-Cities hospitals are full and waiting times for emergency room care are long as the area is hit with a tripledemic of influenza, RSV and COVID-19.

In addition, medicines that help treat those respiratory illnesses are in short supply.

“We are concerned about the activity we are seeing,” said Dr. Larry Jecha, interim health officer for Benton and Franklin counties. “It is different than in years past.”

COVID-19 was steadily declining in the Tri-Cities area when respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and the influenza virus showed up six to eight weeks early, he said.

“Influenza is really hitting us hard and it is causing trouble in our elderly population and in our children,” said Dr. Matthew Lamb, medical director at Lourdes Emergency Room in Pasco, speaking at a news briefing f the Benton Franklin Health District this week.

Now there are some indications that COVID-19, which has been at a stable rate, also may be increasing.

“We are facing a respiratory virus crisis,” said Heather Hill, public health nurse for the Benton Franklin Health District.

The crisis is not unique to the Tri-Cities, but is creating shortages nationwide in medicines used for fevers, including acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen.

There also is a shortage of Tamiflu, a prescription medicine that can lessen flu symptoms if taken within two days of the start of symptoms, in the Tri-Cities and elsewhere.

The health district has requested supplies from the national stockpile, Hill said.

Doctors reported that hospitals are carefully monitoring their supplies of medicines needed for patients with respiratory illnesses, plus supplies of personal protective and other equipment.

Tri-Cities hospitals stressed

“Our health care system is strained,” said Dr. John Matheson, medical director of emergency departments for Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.

“We are having difficulty seeing everyone, certainly in a timely manner we would like,” he said.

Full waiting rooms and longer than usual waits also are an issue at the Pasco and Kennewick hospitals and at urgent care centers across the Tri-Cities.

The delays in hospital emergency department care are compounded by a shortage of available hospital beds that has patients being admitted to Tri-Cities hospitals at times being boarded in the emergency room until a bed opens up.

With respiratory illnesses high across the state, there are some delays as Tri-City hospitals need to move patients to other hospitals, such as in Seattle, for a higher level of care, said Emily Volland, spokeswoman for Kadlec.

At this time, none of the Tri-City hospitals has restricted visitation to reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses within the hospitals.

It’s a balancing act, with hospitals aware of the benefit of patients having their family there to support them, Matheson said.

Flu and RSV in Tri-Cities

Schools are starting to see higher absentee rates, a seasonal indication that flu is spreading through the community, Jecha said.

RSV has started to decrease nationally and may also be starting to decrease in Western Washington, he said.

But the number of cases continue to climb in the Tri-Cities.

The virus is common, but can cause severe illness in young children being exposed to it for the first time and in the elderly. There is no vaccine for RSV.

The Washington state Department of Health reports that the number of flu and flu-like illnesses in the state is “very high.”

So far this season 34 adults and three children in Washington state have did from the flu. That includes one child younger than 5. Most of the deaths are in older adults, including 14 in those 65 and older.

With fever a symptom of both flu and RSV, and also COVID-19, the health district has prepared a guide for monitoring temperatures, reducing fevers and when to call a doctor. It is posted at bfhd.wa.gov.

COVID in Tri-Cities

No deaths from flu have been reported in the Tri-Cities area.

However, there was another death from COVID-19 reported by the Benton Franklin Health District in its weekly COVID-19 update.

A Benton County man in his 80s died, bringing total deaths due to COVID in the two counties since the start of the pandemic to 743.

Public health officials are seeing an increase in the genetic material from the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in samples of wastewater collected from municipal plants in Kennewick, Pasco, Richland and West Richland.

The concentration of coronavirus in wastewater is now just a little greater than in the wave of COVID cases from the omicron virus at the start of this year. And it is approaching the peak in cases seen this summer with a new omicron subvariant.

Stop the Tri-Cities spread

Health care leaders are urging people to stay home if they are sick to lessen the spread of infections.

And, please, please get vaccinated against COVID-19 and flu, doctors urged.

“They work,” Jecha said.

Both vaccines help prevent illness or can lessen the severity of illness, which could prevent hospitalization or death in those most vulnerable.

Only anecdotal information was available about how many people in the Tri-Cities are getting their flu vaccine this season.

Hill says it appears that for a second year in a row fewer people are getting vaccinated against influenza.

Other steps to prevent the spread of the respiratory infections include hand washing, covering coughs and sneezes, and wearing a face mask when appropriate.

Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Seattle and King County, recommended Friday that residents resume wearing masks in indoor public spaces.

When to go to the hospital

Most people with symptoms of a respiratory illness should seek care from their primary doctor or a walk-in or urgent care center to allow hospital emergency rooms to focus on the most seriously ill patients, said doctors at the Thursday news briefing.

Those patients include not only the most serious cases of respiratory illnesses but people needing urgent treatment for heart attacks, strokes and car crash injuries, said doctors at Tri-City hospitals.

However, don’t hesitate to come to a hospital emergency room for symptoms such as shortness of breath, said Dr. Adam Smith, chief of medical staff at Trios Health in Kennewick.

The Benton Franklin Health District says issues that call for treatment in the emergency room include:

▪ An injury or illness that threatens a life or a limb.

▪ Difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness or seizure.

▪ Severe abdominal pain, allergic reactions, burns or skin infections.

▪ High fever with headache or persistent dizziness.

▪ Dehydration or a fast heartbeat that does not slow down.