Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Day Care Centers will be closed for a further two weeks from June 27th to July 11th, 2023, according to local Health officials during a press conference held yesterday at the Department of Health (ASDOH) office in Tafuna, coordinated by ASDOH Acting Director, Vesi Fautanu, Jr. and Clinical Director Dr. Elizabeth Lauvao.

This closure extension has been recommended by the medical team at the ASDOH in partnership with senior LBJ Medical Center management, to control the transmission of the moderate to severe respiratory illness Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), which is affecting mostly vulnerable children under 2 years of age, and prevent a further upward surge in cases.

According to the Head of the Pediatric Department at LBJ Hospital Dr. Maria Guyapa, during the two weeks that Day Care Centers were closed to help stop the spread of RSV, the number of positive cases hasn’t dropped. 

She revealed that the number of children admitted with RSV has remained steady and approximately 43% of the RSV cases in the last four days are requiring intensive care treatment by Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPaP) ventilation or Oxygen therapy to support breathing and aim for recovery from the RSV pneumonia.

“We have a steady number of cases coming in testing positive for RSV needing more care and oxygen support,” Dr. Guyapa explained. “In the previous year when we had the RSV outbreak and Day Care Centers were closed for two weeks, we had a rapid drop of cases coming in and we hardly had any moderate to severe cases. However this time, the cases that are being admitted are mostly needing oxygen support and the age group which is mostly affected is less than one year-old.”

She stressed that these young children when infected with RSV, are very vulnerable and can be easily be co-infected with COVID-19 and other respiratory infections which puts them at a higher risk of death.

“These children need more care and oxygen support,” she said, “and we cannot just send them home.”

Dr. Guyapa also revealed that a one year-old child who tested positive for RSV died within the last seven days, although the cause of death has been attributed to complications from other health issues.

Epidemiologist at DOH Dr. Scott Anesi also spoke on the severity of RSV cases and the increase in the number of cases in the community.

Using graphs illustrating statistics of RSV infections put together by DOH, he explained that this proves the virus is still spreading in the community.

He pointed out that from May 1 to 31, 2023, out of 151 patients tested by LBJ and DOH, 33 were positive for RSV and from June 1 to 26, 2023, out of 389 patients tested, 185 were RSV-positive.

Among the recommendations of the health authorities are to keep children at home and not allow them in public gatherings. In addition that indoor smoking not be allowed as exposure to secondhand smoke can contribute to worsen the condition of children with RSV.

Families must also practice good hygiene, and wash hands regularly.

An official notice will be issued regarding the two-week extension of Day Care Centers, which began on June 14, 2023.