British Columbia's provincial health officer says respiratory illness season is expected to hit its peak within the next week. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry talks during an update at the legislature in Victoria on March 10, 2022.CHAD HIPOLITO/The Canadian Press
There were more people in British Columbia hospitals on Tuesday than at any point since the start of the pandemic, a spike driven by respiratory illnesses that are once again pushing the province’s health care system to overflowing.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry held a news conference Wednesday to urge residents to get their influenza and updated COVID-19 vaccinations, as the provincial government works to relieve pressure on health care facilities.
There were 10,435 patients in B.C. hospitals as of Tuesday, Mr. Dix said. The previous pandemic-era peak was 10,280, in the same week last year.
“It’s very challenging,” Mr. Dix added, noting that 18,000 health care workers in the province had recently missed at least one day of work because of illness, putting still more pressure on the system.
Dr. Henry said the influenza and respiratory syncytial virus season is expected to peak in the next week or so. She said influenza has contributed to the deaths of three children under age 10 in B.C. in recent weeks.
One of the children who died was under five years old, Dr. Henry said, and none of them had received influenza vaccines this year. In all three cases, secondary bacterial infections contributed to the deaths, she added.
Two children die from flu-related illnesses, B.C. Centre for Disease Control says
“It is so sad and tragic when we know that young people can be protected from these infections. But we know that any respiratory virus can cause an inflammation in the lungs that makes you more susceptible to having bacterial infections,” she said.
Six B.C. children and youth died during last year’s respiratory illness season.
According to the province’s Centre for Disease Control, the proportion of emergency department visits for respiratory symptoms has continued to increase in both the adult and pediatric populations since the beginning of October. This increase has been particularly acute among children, who are experiencing the highest levels of illness since the start of this respiratory illness season.
Dr. Henry advised parents and caregivers to monitor anyone who is ill. She noted that most patients should be able to recover at home. But she urged parents to seek medical care quickly if their children experience any symptoms of concern, such as difficulty breathing, or fever that lasts longer than five days. Fever in a child under three months of age is also worrisome, she said.
She asked parents to reach out to their health care providers or call 811 if they are worried about their children. And she said the BC Children’s Hospital has information on its website about when to seek emergency care.
Odion Kalaci, a Vancouver-area pediatrician and the president of the BC Pediatric Society, said it is better for parents to err on the side of caution and seek prompt medical attention if they are uncertain about the severity of their child’s condition. This is especially true of children with complex medical histories, he said.
He said parents should take their children to emergency rooms if they experience seizures that last longer than five minutes or severe abdominal pain, or if they show signs of dehydration.
But in B.C., as in other provinces, wait times at emergency rooms are long, in part because many patients lack family doctors and must seek emergency care instead.
Hospitals across the province are putting measures in place to handle the numbers, Mr. Dix said.
“All health authorities are and continue to be prepared for increases in pediatric respiratory illness,’’ he said. “This includes BC Children’s Hospital. These actions are making sure we can continue to provide the care patients need during this busy time.”
With a report from the Canadian Press
Xiao Xu