Emergency room and critical care physicians continue to see significant levels of respiratory syncytial virus activity, according to survey data published Dec. 14.
The findings are based on a microsurvey completed by 100 physicians on Nov. 21 via a mobile platform from InCrowd. The latest findings mark the third wave of the survey, with the first two conducted on Oct. 24 and Nov. 7.
Four findings from the data:
1. Ninety-three percent of ER and critical care physician respondents said they have treated RSV patients in the last two weeks, up from 90 percent who said the same in the survey's second wave and 85 percent in the first wave.
2. Case loads also increased for the third consecutive biweekly report, with physicians treating an average of 20 RSV patients in the last two weeks. That's up from an average of 11 and 18 patients in the first two waves, respectively.
3. Sixty-four percent of respondents in the latest survey said the RSV cases they are seeing are more severe than in previous years, up from 45 percent who said the same in the first wave and 60 percent on Nov. 7.
4. Only 29 percent of physicians said they saw a "strong" increase in RSV cases over the past two weeks, down from 44 percent who said the same Nov. 7.
"RSV still is exerting a major impact on the healthcare system," Daniel Fitzgerald, CEO and president of Apollo Intelligence, which owns the InCrowd Platform, said in a Dec. 14 news release sent to Becker's. "With growing concern for system capacity under a 'tripledemic' of RSV, COVID-19 and seasonal flu in the coming weeks, clinicians are telling us that we are not in the clear yet."