>St. Christopher’s sits in the bull’s-eye of what pediatricians are calling a “tridemic,” as RSV, flu, and COVID-19 strike all at once. All across the country, children’s hospitals are overwhelmed from an unusually early and severe onslaught of seasonal respiratory viruses.
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>In this swath of Philadelphia — the nation’s poorest large city — chronic disease and poverty have further aggravated the crisis. The neighborhood surrounding the hospital at Erie Avenue and Front Street has the city’s highest rate of childhood asthma. More than 90% of life-threatening asthma attacks in children are triggered by respiratory viruses, according to Reingold, chair of the hospital’s department of emergency medicine.
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When virus and asthma collide, the resulting cyclone of respiratory distress can quickly lead to a hospital emergency for a kid who lives near St. Christopher’s.
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>ER veterans at St. Christopher’s have never seen anything like these last few months. And they fear the worst may be yet to come as the region heads into a winter where few people are still masking. Young children are now getting exposed to viruses for the first time.