TEXAS — From flu cases to sledding accidents, North Texas pediatric hospitals dealt with a mixed bag of cases during last month’s winter storm.

With more than a dozen screens plastered on the wall, dispatch and operators inside the Solution Center have a bird’s-eye view of every inch of Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth.

“Which is really important in a time of weather. As you know, the weather was bad, and you can’t necessarily get out on the roads and drive, but we still have to get patients here,” said Debbie Boudreaux, vice president of nursing and patient services at Cook Children’s.

Boudreaux said before the winter storm, staff were dealing with patients who had typical seasonal illnesses, including norovirus and respiratory illnesses like RSV, colds and the flu.

“And the kids are all at school, and they’re all exchanging all their little germs, and then they all come here,” said Boudreaux.

Doctors at Children’s Health in Dallas were experiencing similar cases.

“Influenza has been circulating here in Dallas and Texas and throughout most of the United States for several weeks,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, chief of infectious diseases at Children’s Health and professor of pediatrics and microbiology at UT Southwestern. “If you look nationwide, we’ve seen the highest rate of hospitalizations in children since 2011.”

During the week of Jan. 18, Children’s Health saw 455 flu cases systemwide — an 18% increase from the week prior.

But this year’s flu surge may have peaked following January’s winter blast.

“Local numbers and regional numbers and our numbers here suggest we may be on a downward slope that maybe we’ve passed the peak of influenza,” Kahn said. “But when you look at previous years, there are often times where there’s a second peak of activity. So, we’re clearly not out of the flu season quite yet.”

In Fort Worth, despite seeing a drop in ER visits during the storm, the numbers that surprised Boudreaux were two-fold. First, the hospital treated more than 60 children for sledding-related injuries.

“In the last nine years I’ve been in an administrative role, and throughout that time period, I just don’t recall us having this many winter weather-related accidents,” said Boudreaux.

And second, the number of tiny babies being born.

“That volume has been steady. Probably for the last year, we’ve had an average daily census of probably 88 to 92 patients, which is a lot,” said Boudreaux. “Our Prosper campus just opened a NICU so that we can take babies up there, maybe babies that are closer to home in Denton or in southern Oklahoma.”

Boudreaux said the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit has been busy, but the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit has been busier. During her interview with Spectrum News 1, she said they had 41 patients with only 43 beds.

“It’ll be interesting to watch those numbers, whether they go up or kind of stay the same,” said Boudreaux.

With kids back in school and no more winter storms forecasted yet, Boudreaux said she expects an uptick of patients walking through her doors.

Children’s Health said during the week of Jan. 25, when the ice, snow, and sleet fell, the hospital saw a decrease of 358 flu cases systemwide.