CHOP Is Overflowing with Patients, But They’re Not Infected with Covid-19

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), a hospital commonly used by many Lakewood families, is nearly overflowing with patients, and while the vast majority are not infected with Covid-19, many of the hospitalizations are directly related to the pandemic and its lockdowns.

The 585-bed CHOP facility has seen its occupancy rates soar to near-record highs primarily due to non-Covid respiratory illnesses and mental health crises. Numerous experts have connected the dots between the pandemic and those issues.

As far as respiratory issues are concerned, doctors say that, because children were mostly locked down for the better part of two years, they have now what is referred to as “immunity debt,” in which children were not exposed to common illnesses like colds and other seasonal sicknesses, making them more vulnerable now to them, because their bodies didn’t get a chance to learn how to fight them.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently recommended giving high-risk infants a monoclonal antibody to treat RSV infections. Most children get RSV before the age of 2 and are fine, but it can be very dangerous for certain infants, including premature babies, those under six months of age, and those with certain defects or diseases. The monoclonal antibody is usually not recommended this early, but the AAP pulled the trigger on it because of how many children have now become sick with the virus.

And regarding the mental health crisis, experts have long said that prolonged lockdowns and restrictions keeping children away from their friends and other social opportunities can cause severe mental health issues. And youngsters dealing with anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues have few places to turn to, exacerbating the problem yet further. Similarly, children with certain disorders, such as autism, can struggle mightily when their schedules are out of whack.

While public health officials say that the lockdowns and other Covid-related mandates helped save lives, it has come with a severe cost: the health of many of our children.

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9 COMMENTS

    • Uh huh, Its the masks – Restricting air flow & breathing in carbon dioxide and bacteria is a perfect recipe for respiratory issues.

      Shame on our governor for abusing our children in broad daylight.

  1. Was just there. There are approximately 30 Lakewood families I’d say – none of them with the “sicknesses” mentioned in this article.
    Chai Lifeline is there full force supporting, advocating, and feeding everyone. Ashreichem Yisroel !!

    From what I saw, the biggest issue at CHOP is that the local populace treats the ER as an Urgent Care, and for billing reasons many of them get admitted to the hospital. No wonder then that there is no room left for those in real need of their top notch staff. What a pity.

  2. In my line of work I work with a lot of ayno yehudim and they’re always asking how everyone’s doing. My response is thank Gd they are all in school. They usually want to know how that happens, even last year when most fin inzireh kinder were in school all year.

    I tell them the answer is very simple, In a private school they are relying mostly on the parents to be working so that tuitions can be paid to the school, which in turn pays the salaries. For that reason they make it work one way or the other .

    Those who send to public school, there’s no incentive there for it to work because the teachers are going to get paid anyway. And if you really want to look at it, it’s the teachers and the teachers union that made a generation of dummies over the past year and a half or so.

  3. This is hogwash the whole tristate has not been locked down for a year and a half already completely opened for a year and a half schools playgrounds camps someone needs to be fired for saying such stupidity

  4. In Brooklyn, rsv started after pesach. The kids were in schools and play groups all year. Immunity debt wouldn’t apply here. The only new issue after pesach are the mrna shits. Is there a connection?

  5. In Philadelphia kids just went back to school in September. They were locked down for a year and a half and these kids don’t go anywhere else. Many of the families I work with are still nervous to take their kids out so yes these kids have not been around anyone since March 2020. In addition many of them have health/mental issues, way more than in the tri-state area.
    Lkwd and bklyn don’t compromise the world.
    Sorry

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