Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry said B.C. has seen “uptick” in COVID-19 cases and hospitalization especially in the Lower Mainland and predicts that the influenza and respiratory syncytial virus season could “peak” next week.

She made these comments Wednesday (Jan. 10) while giving an update on the respiratory illness season. Health Minister Adrian Dix joined her in giving the update.

She said the respiratory illness season is unfolding in a way that was familiar before the COVID-19 pandemic with the end of the holidays, the return of children to school and people spending more time indoors.

“This also means that we are not out of woods yet,” she said. “We will continue to see high rates of influenza and RSV for the next few days,” Henry said in urging people to protect themselves by getting vaccinated and taking other measures. These measures are especially important when it comes to protecting children, she added.

So far, three children with a positive influenza diagnosis have died in different parts of B.C.

Henry said all three children, one under the age of five, the other two between the ages of five and 10, had a secondary bacterial infection, which was their cause of death.

“So it is just a reminder that to us that all infections, particularly influenza, can lead to more severe illness, especially among children,” Henry said, adding that the children had not received the influenza vaccine.

While it is not clear whether the influenza vaccine would have made a difference with these children, available data shows the overall effectiveness of vaccines, she added.

Historically, four to six children would die from influenza-related illness, Henry said. Almost all of these deaths were related to bacterial infections, she said.

“So it is not unexpected,” she said. “But all of these, we feel, were preventable…and treatable illnesses. So that’s why we are putting that reminder out again.”

According to Henry, 17 per cent of eligible children in B.C. have received their updated influenza vaccine. “So again, it’s not too late to get that added protection,” Henry said, having called the deaths of the children a tragedy.

RELATED: COVID-19 cases remain low, but flu and RSV creeping up: B.C. health officer

As for COVID-19, B.C. has started to see an “uptick” through the holiday season and toward the end of December, particularly among adults and in hospitalizations, Henry said. While the numbers are not high as they were in September, they are “starting to creep up,” she said.

According to Henry, 219 with a positive COVID-19 test are currently hospitalized and 26 people with positive COVID-19 tests are receiving critical care.

Dix echoed Henry’s appeal to get vaccinated in noting the availability of both the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines. While B.C. is leading North America in vaccination rates, the number of COVID-19 vaccinations has dropped compared to last year, Dix said. Whereas the system had administered 1.61 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine last year, that number has dropped to 1.49 million, Dix said. “So we are behind where we were last year,” he said.

About 1.52 million doses of influenza vaccinations have gone out.

The current spike and pending peak of respiratory illnesses is also putting pressure on the provincial health care system.

Within this context, Henry expressed concern about the number of children seeking treatment in emergency room. Whereas older people tend to drive hospitalizations, children, especially young children, tend to drive emergency room visits, Henry said.

Henry stressed she is not trying to discourage people from seeking emergency room care. “I would say, ‘don’t avoid going to the emergency department,’ if you have an illness that you need to have access to immediate care for,” she said. But many others options such are available, she said.

Dix echoed that appeal, pointing to on-going efforts to build up primary care and other measures.

Dix said the provincial health care system “absolutely” has the capacity to deal with rising cases of respiratory illness, having noted that the system set “fairly significant record” for hospitalization with 10,435 as of Jan. 9. The high point last year was 10,280.

Dix also pointed out that the system is handling a record number of surgeries and diagnostics. But if the health care system is delivering a “high level of service,” he also acknowledged that this is a “particular time of challenge for everyone in our health care system” in pointing to various preparations for the current and still-coming challenges of respiratory illness season.

@wolfgangdepner
wolfgang.depner@blackpress.ca
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