Colorado health officials are working on a “deeper dive” into the state’s pediatric hospital capacity amid an unprecedented spike in out-of-season respiratory ailments and COVID-19 continuing to spread.

“In my 32 years of living in Colorado and practicing as a pediatrician, I don’t ever remember seeing any (respiratory syncytial virus) in August,” Eric France, Colorado’s chief medical officer, said Thursday morning.

The respiratory virus is also known as RSV.

“It’s a disease of November to February,” France said.

Children’s Hospital Colorado said this week that its pediatric ICU volume is 60% higher than is typical for this time of year. Though COVID-19 is playing a role in that, officials said it was primarily RSV, a common but sometimes serious disease that affects the respiratory tract.

It’s likely spreading because children weren’t exposed to it last year, officials said, when they were masked and distanced.

Children's Hospital Colorado experiences 60% increase in ICU patients

But it’s unclear why it’s spiking now, months ahead of its normal emergence, France and Children’s officials said. Between Oct. 1 and April 30, there were two RSV hospitalizations statewide, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Health and Environment said Wednesday. In August, there have been 22, almost all them children.

Scott Bookman, the state’s COVID-19 incident commander, said the state is working to get better “visibility” into the pediatric and newborn intensive care units’ capacities.

The state has long tracked capacity into hospitals overall, with a particular focus on standard intensive care units and medical-surgical beds. 

Children’s officials said this week its capacity remains in good shape and it’s still accepting patients from other states. But the upcoming school year, which will feature a patchwork of COVID-19 measures across the state’s sprawling school system, is “concerning,” Children’s doctors said. 

France said it was “difficult to speculate on the impact of school” returning. The fall season is typically milder for respiratory illnesses such as RSV and flu, as children are outside more.