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Due to a shortage of testing reagents combined with a surge in demand for testing, we must temporarily decrease the number of COVID-19 tests administered at Seattle Children’s. We have temporarily suspended COVID-19 testing for the community. Effective immediately, we are not accepting referrals from primary care providers for COVID-19 testing.
Seattle Children’s system-wide number of positive COVID-19 swabs has been approximately doubling every week for the past four weeks and is about three times higher than any other time in the pandemic. Not only are the raw numbers increasing but our positivity rate has gone from about 2% a few weeks ago to nearly 20% last week.
After a dip in census over the Thanksgiving holiday, the Emergency Department (ED) and the hospital had a high surge of patients on Monday, November 29. The ED was at 200% capacity Monday evening with a mental health surge of 16 patients (40% of the normal ED bed capacity).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has removed qualifying criteria to expand who can get the COVID-19 vaccine booster doses for extended immunity. Seattle Children’s now is able to administer booster doses under an emergency use authorization to any individual who is 18 years and older and has:
As a reminder, we continue to experience a very high number of Emergency Department (ED) visits due in large part to respiratory illnesses, mental health concerns and COVID-19.* The ED is using every available space to treat patients, including lobby space, a converted storage area and tents. Seattle Children’s Urgent Care clinics also are experiencing high demand and are full most days.
Seattle Children’s ambulatory clinics are now screening all patients 10 years of age and older for suicidal ideation. This includes patients at our regional clinics. Screening was rolled out in phases starting in May. Since then, 9,000 ambulatory patients have been screened and over 700 screened positive and received follow-up interventions. Suicide screening has been in place for more than two years in our Emergency Department and inpatient units.
Three leading U.S. pediatric health organizations declared a state of emergency in youth mental health on October 19, 2021. We want to take this opportunity to share several new flyers from Seattle Children’s intended to help families find a qualified and available mental health counselor for their child. We encourage our provider partners in the community to share them with patients and families.
Palivizumab (Synagis) Administration Began September 15, 2021
Seattle Children’s started administration of palivizumab (Synagis) for eligible patients two months early this year, on September 15, due to high RSV rates seen in late summer and an increase in the number of RSV patients admitted to the ICU needing ventilator support. We are providing Synagis to current Seattle Children’s patients who are eligible. We recommend community providers assess their patients for RSV risk and begin administering Synagis to eligible patients.
Many families and providers are wondering what precautions to take before sending kids back to sports after a COVID-19 infection. Using guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and American Heart Association (AHA), cardiologists at Seattle Children’s created the proposed protocol to guide PCPs in safely returning kids to sports after infection. It was presented in our July CME, “Return to Sports After COVID-19, Plus Updates on Post-Vaccine Perimyocarditis,” along with information about COVID’s impact on heart function and information about why the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of post-vaccine myopericarditis.
As of September 1, 2021:
Seattle Children's complies with applicable federal and other civil rights laws and does not discriminate, exclude people or treat them differently based on race, color, religion (creed), sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin (ancestry), age, disability, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law. Financial assistance for medically necessary services is based on family income and hospital resources and is provided to children under age 21 whose primary residence is in Washington, Alaska, Montana or Idaho.
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