HOUSTON – The Texas Medical Center is reporting a rise in COVID cases with hospitalizations up over 400 percent this past month.
The TMC said they haven’t seen any type of surge since the peak of the pandemic in the summer of 2020, and many of the patients are young children who are unvaccinated.
“We have been seeing a huge number of kids coming in with Covid-19 infections and they are of all ages, from newborn to any age possible,” said Dr. Ali Naqvi a Pediatrician with UT Health.
According to reports, all five Houston Pediatric wards are full.
Earlier this week, 11-month Ava Ramirez contracted the virus and had to be airlifted to a hospital 150 miles away because there were no beds available.
Dr. Peter Hotez an expert on Contagious Diseases and Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine said he believes this most recent surge could be just the beginning.
“Our Texas Medical center is filling up and the worry of course is all of this has to be contextualized with the fact that schools haven’t even opened yet,” said Hotez.
The expert said the only way to combat the virus is to mask up and get vaccinated.
“We are seeing a lot of sick children due to either parent who are unvaccinated and you know got sick and then, of course, passed it on to the child,” said Dr. Suma Manjunath a Pediatrician with Kelsey- Seybold.