Washington couple hoping for improvement in 3-month-old twins hospitalized with RSV

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Washington State Health Officials say they are overwhelmed by pediatric patients who are getting sick with RSV.

Cases of the respiratory illness have been on the rise in Oregon and Washington. It’s also being compounded by an increasing number of people getting sick with the flu and COVID-19 as more people spend time indoors and near others.

Sofia and Brody Hollingshead are one of the families dealing with the scary realities posed by RSV. They have 3-month-old twins who are both hospitalized with the illness.

“Every day is a new day. They say that the fifth day is the worst, but we’re going on the eighth day. So, we’re just trying to find that plateau is what the doctors are calling it. We don’t want them to decline anymore, and we want them to find that sweet spot and how to treat them the best,” Sofia said.

The twins are being treated at Randall’s Children’s Hospital in Oregon. One of them, Piper, is now so sick that she must be on a ventilator.

“There’s still some complications. They both have pneumonia now, so they’re being treated by IV antibiotics. There’s issues with her heartrate, because they need to sedate her for the ventilator. It’s all just kind of touch and go from here,” said Sofia.

Washington State Health Officials held a press conference Monday to make the public aware of the situation. They said that most hospitals in the state are now operating at over 100% capacity in the ER and that’s especially true in pediatric units.

Health officials say they are seeing the highest-ever number of RSV cases. They say to prevent this, practice good hygiene at home and keep sick kids away from other children. They also add that most kids will get RSV before the age of two, but a majority of them will not need to go to the hospital.

The Hollingsheads hope that they will get the news soon that their children are improving, and they can return home to the four other children in the family.

The couple also says that even though this has been an extremely difficult time, they have also been overwhelmed by the support from the community.

“It’s been really emotional to be here. It’s scary for us and at the same time the most humbling experience because of the amount of people who have reached out to help us here at the hospital and at home,” said Brody.

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