Assessing Immediate Bed Availability and Barriers to Discharge in a United States Children's Hospital.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to quantify immediate bed availability (IBA) in a United States children's hospital and treatment needs of hospitalized patients whose needs could be met outside a traditional hospital setting. METHODS: Using a novel tool to capture census, scheduled discharges, and resource needs for hospitalized patients, we surveyed our hospital's 5 non-neonatal inpatient pediatric units on 4 d over 1 y. RESULTS: Median ward occupancy was 81% (range, 58-79), median intensive care unit occupancy was 80% (range, 7-19), and median IBA was 42% (range, 34-59). A median of 14 patients per day (13% of total capacity) had treatment needs that could be met by providing limited support in a nontraditional setting; the most common reason for requiring ongoing hospitalization in this group of patients was a safe discharge plan. CONCLUSIONS: Our median IBA of 42% exceeds federal recommendations, but varies widely between days surveyed. Even on days when IBA percentage is high, our total number of available beds is unlikely to meet pediatric population needs in a large-scale public health emergency.

Notes from the Field: Outbreak of Zika Virus Disease - American Samoa, 2016.

During December 2015-January 2016, the American Samoa Department of Health (ASDoH) detected through surveillance an increase in the number of cases of acute febrile rash illness. Concurrently, a case of laboratory-confirmed Zika virus infection, a mosquito-borne flavivirus infection documented to cause microcephaly and other severe brain defects in some infants born to women infected during pregnancy (1,2) was reported in a traveler returning to New Zealand from American Samoa. In the absence of local laboratory capacity to test for Zika virus, ASDoH initiated arboviral disease control measures, including public education and vector source reduction campaigns. On February 1, CDC staff members were deployed to American Samoa to assist ASDoH with testing and surveillance efforts.