Frankfurt/Berlin (dpa/lhe) - Respiratory tract infections in small children lead to more hospital admissions nationwide. In several federal states there is already hardly a free cot in clinics, said Florian Hoffmann, Secretary General of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), on Friday of the German Press Agency. In Hesse, the situation seems less dramatic. According to Hoffmann, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony are particularly badly affected.
For Hesse, the Divi register did not show any major bottlenecks on Friday: In almost all of the nine recorded children's intensive care units in the state, the traffic light was green or yellow ("available", "limited availability"). In one clinic there were no more ventilation places available, in another the special ventilation method ECMO was not available. The Divi wants to present more detailed information on the situation in pediatric intensive care in Hamburg next week. The Hessian Hospital Society does not have any current figures.
The Robert Koch Institute reports a sharp increase in infections with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) nationwide. Children up to the age of four in particular are increasingly being treated in hospitals for this reason. According to the RKI, the values are also at a very high level in the age groups up to 14 years. The pathogen can trigger a simple respiratory infection, but can also be life-threatening in high-risk patients such as premature babies.
