The pediatric ICU is at one hundred percent capacity
In Florianópolis, the children's hospital that has long stood as a refuge for Santa Catarina's youngest and most fragile is now straining under a wave of respiratory illness that no single pathogen can claim alone. Between February and April, emergency visits surged fifty-six percent, filling intensive care beds with infants who have barely begun their lives. The crisis is not without remedy — vaccines exist, they are free, and they are waiting — yet only one in four eligible children has received one, leaving the distance between prevention and suffering uncomfortably wide.
- The pediatric ICU at Hospital Infantil Joana de Gusmão has reached full capacity, with the neonatal unit close behind — most beds occupied by infants under one year old fighting to breathe.
- Rhinovirus alone accounts for 202 of 507 hospitalizations recorded between January and April, but influenza, RSV, adenovirus, and COVID-19 are all contributing to a multi-pathogen siege on the youngest patients.
- Fifty-nine infants under one year old have required intensive care, and 101 children in total have needed ICU-level treatment — a severity that has pushed staff and infrastructure to their limits.
- Despite the crush, no child has died at this hospital from these infections — a fragile mercy that doctors warn could change if vaccination rates and hospital pressure do not shift.
- A new RSV vaccine for pregnant women is now available statewide, designed to pass protective antibodies to newborns before they ever face their most dangerous respiratory window.
- With influenza vaccination covering only 25% of the priority group, health authorities are pressing families toward a solution that is already free, already available, and already proven to work.
The emergency department at Hospital Infantil Joana de Gusmão in Florianópolis has been overwhelmed. Between February and April, severe acute respiratory syndrome cases surged fifty-six percent — from 4,800 visits to 7,500 — filling the pediatric ICU to full capacity and pushing the neonatal unit to ninety percent occupancy. The majority of those beds hold infants under one year old.
From January through April, the hospital admitted 507 children with serious respiratory illness. Rhinovirus was the most common culprit, identified in 202 cases, followed by influenza, RSV, adenovirus, COVID-19, and metapneumovirus. Ninety-six infants under one year were hospitalized; fifty-nine needed intensive care. In total, 101 children required ICU-level treatment. So far, none have died — but the hospital is visibly strained.
Hospital director Maristela Cardozo and pediatrician Luciana Hammes have both spoken plainly: the diagnoses are familiar — influenza, bronchiolitis, pneumonia — but their consequences are severe. Children are arriving sick enough to be admitted, and many deteriorate further. Both physicians are urging families to vaccinate. The flu shot is free, available at every health post in the state, and it works.
The state has also introduced an RSV vaccine for pregnant women past twenty-eight weeks, designed to transfer protective antibodies to newborns during their most vulnerable early months. Across Santa Catarina, 2,200 children aged zero to nine have been diagnosed with severe respiratory illness in 2026, with 406 requiring intensive care and seventeen deaths recorded statewide. Yet the influenza vaccination campaign has reached only twenty-five percent of its priority group. Officials say the tools exist. The gap between what is available and what is being used is where the crisis lives.
The emergency department at Hospital Infantil Joana de Gusmão in Florianópolis has been overwhelmed. Between February and April, cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome surged fifty-six percent—from 4,800 patient visits in February to 7,500 by April. The hospital's pediatric intensive care unit is now running at full capacity, with the neonatal ICU at ninety percent occupancy. Most of the beds are occupied by children under one year old struggling to breathe.
From January through April, the hospital admitted 507 children with severe respiratory illness. Laboratory testing identified rhinovirus as the culprit in 202 cases—more than any other pathogen. Influenza followed with 65 cases, respiratory syncytial virus with 42, adenovirus with 23, COVID-19 with 15, and metapneumovirus with 10. Another 150 cases involved viruses that testing could not identify. The youngest patients bore the heaviest burden: ninety-six infants under one year old were hospitalized, and fifty-nine of them required intensive care. In total, 101 children needed ICU-level treatment during these four months.
Despite the severity—pediatric beds completely full, infants on ventilators, the hospital straining under demand—no child has died from these respiratory infections so far. But the pressure is visible in every corner. Maristela Cardozo, the hospital's director, described the current moment plainly: the pediatric ICU is at one hundred percent capacity, the neonatal unit at ninety percent, and the majority of those patients are infants with respiratory problems. She pointed to a troubling pattern: vaccination rates remain low, even though the flu vaccine is free and available at every health post in the state.
Luciana Hammes, a pediatrician at the hospital, echoed the concern. The cases filling the emergency room are straightforward diagnoses—influenza, bronchiolitis, pneumonia—but their consequences are severe. Children arrive sick enough to need hospitalization. Many deteriorate enough to need intensive care. The hospital is appealing to families to bring their children in for vaccination. The flu shot is safe, it is free, and it works.
The state health department has also introduced a new tool: a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus for pregnant women. The logic is direct. When a pregnant woman receives the RSV vaccine after twenty-eight weeks of pregnancy, her body produces antibodies that cross the placenta and protect the newborn in those first vulnerable months of life. For infants, those early weeks are the most dangerous window for respiratory infection. The vaccine is now available across the state's public health system.
Statewide, Santa Catarina has recorded 2,200 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome in children aged zero to nine years so far in 2026. Of those, 406 required intensive care, and seventeen children have died. The vaccination campaign against influenza has reached only twenty-five percent of the priority group—children aged six months to six years. That gap between what is available and what is being used sits at the center of the current crisis. The state health department continues to recommend the basics: frequent handwashing, respiratory etiquette, and distance from anyone showing flu symptoms. But the real lever, officials say, is the vaccine. It is there. It is free. Families need to use it.
Citas Notables
These are cases of influenza, bronchiolitis, pneumonia—conditions that are filling the emergency room, increasing hospitalizations, and sending children to the ICU. We urge families to bring their children in for vaccination.— Luciana Hammes, pediatrician at Hospital Infantil Joana de Gusmão
Today we have one hundred percent of pediatric ICU beds occupied and ninety percent of neonatal ICU beds. Most of these patients are hospitalized for respiratory problems and are under one year old. We are concerned about low vaccination rates, which are one of the main forms of prevention.— Maristela Cardozo, director of Hospital Infantil Joana de Gusmão
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why are infants under one year so much more vulnerable than older children?
Their immune systems are still developing. They can't mount the same defense against these viruses that a three-year-old can. A respiratory infection that might cause a cough in an older child can turn into pneumonia or bronchiolitis in a baby, and that's when they need a ventilator.
The hospital is at full capacity but there have been no deaths. Is that luck, or is the system actually working?
It's both. The hospital staff is skilled and the equipment is there. But it's also fragile. When you're at one hundred percent capacity with the sickest patients, there's no margin. One more surge, one more outbreak, and the system breaks.
Why is vaccination coverage so low if the vaccine is free and available everywhere?
That's the question nobody has a good answer for. Access isn't the problem. Trust, awareness, competing priorities—something is keeping families away from the health posts. And meanwhile, the hospital is full of children who might not be there if their parents had brought them in for a shot.
The RSV vaccine for pregnant women is new. How does that change things?
It's prevention before birth. Instead of waiting for a baby to get sick and hoping the hospital has a bed, you protect them in the womb. It's elegant. But it only works if pregnant women know about it and choose to get it.
What happens next? Does this surge end on its own?
Respiratory viruses follow seasons. This will likely ease as winter passes. But the underlying problem—low vaccination rates, vulnerable infants, a hospital running at the edge—that doesn't go away. The next outbreak will find the same conditions.