Get your flu shot as soon as possible, the Canadian Pediatric Society urged families Friday, as respiratory viruses continue to make some babies and young children seriously ill across the country.
This week, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said the annual flu epidemic has begun, more than a month earlier than the average before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The influenza vaccine is especially important for young children, who are at higher risk of becoming seriously ill from the virus, said Dr Laura Sauvé, chair of the society’s infectious diseases and immunization committee.
The flu surge comes as other illnesses such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) among children overwhelm the capacity of pediatric hospitals in Canada, leading to long waits for those who are not the most seriously ill or injured.
Also Friday, following a directive issued by Ontario Health, youth 16 and older who need emergency care or admission to an inpatient unit in Ottawa are being asked to go to other hospitals in the region, with some exceptions , to help relieve the pressure. at CHEO, the Ottawa Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Lindy Sampson, the hospital’s chief of staff and chief medical officer, said today that the intensive care unit, where the sickest patients go, is exactly double the number that are usually cared for there. Most of today’s ICU patients are in their first few years of life, Sampson said.
Pedestrians wearing masks walk past a mural of a mother and child in Calgary in December 2020. Canadians are being encouraged to wear masks indoors again this respiratory virus season. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
Sampson told reporters that the increase is expected to continue for four to six weeks.
No children have died from the flu or RSV this season at the hospital, Sampson said.
CHEO officials said they are seeing a disproportionately high number of children showing the highest level of illness and needing resuscitation.
Sampson also urged people to return to wearing masks indoors, stay home when sick, take advantage of the availability of flu and COVID-19 vaccines and continue the basics of washing hold hands and take care of each other.
Saved gave similar advice.
“There is no magic solution that prevents all respiratory infections, but we must continue to use all layers of protection,” Sauvé said in an interview.
Sauvé said infants are at the greatest risk of severe RSV illness. Immunocompromised children are also vulnerable, and asthma can be triggered by even a mild bout of respiratory illness, he added.
Flu levels are also higher than in previous years for this time of year in some parts of the country, PHAC said.
Doctors say other factors, including exhaustion and burnout among health professionals, staffing pressures and shortages of pain and fever-reducing drugs for young children are also contributing to the latest challenges in hospitals
While emergency department visits at some children’s hospitals remain high, at others they are beginning to decline. It is not yet known whether RSV levels have stabilized.
The Canadian Pediatric Society and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommend that all children six months of age and older receive an annual flu shot.
It’s safe to get flu shots and other vaccines at the same time, says NACI.