Utah County pediatricians say sick visits doubled from fall 2020 to 2021

UTAH COUNTY, Utah — If it seems like your children have not been able to stay healthy the last couple of months, you are not alone.

Doctors at Utah Valley Pediatrics say sick visits between October and December were up 111% when compared to the same time in 2020. They say trends were abnormal for the season, especially with RSV cases popping up earlier than predicted.

“Because it happened so early, it really took us off guard. Normally we are ready, you know, we’ve got October, November coming, we know it’s going to be busy for kids,” said Kevin Moffitt, administrator for Utah Valley Pediatrics.

The top five illnesses they treated were upper respiratory infections, croup, sore throat, earaches and bronchiolitis.

Moffitt said health care staff has been working long hours to treat the abnormally high number of sick children.

“We were having our physicians stay as late as 8 p.m. just to keep up with the patients,” Moffitt said.

One of those patients was 20-month-old Annie Young who has dealt with three ear infections, croup, an eye infection and a stomach bug since November.

“She seems to catch everything and it lasts longer and it’s harder for her to fight. So I can only guess that it’s because she was sheltered and so healthy for the first year, year and a half until this winter,” said her mother, Abby Young.

Young’s two older children have also been to their pediatrician’s office multiple times in the last three months with illnesses. She said although they have recovered from multiple viruses, they aren’t letting their guards down just yet.

“It makes me second guess going out and instead doing that when they are a little older, a little healthier and can play outside more,” Young said.