'Stay home if you’re sick': Health units prepare for respiratory illness season

With fall weather here and people expected to spend more time indoors, local public health units are preparing for another season of respiratory illnesses.

Grand River Hospital is seeing an increase in respiratory illnesses already, which is causing high volumes of patients in the emergency department.

“At Grand River Hospital, we have recently experienced days where our occupancy is over one hundred per cent. At times, due to the volumes of patients we've been seeing over the past several weeks, this has required patient care to occur in unconventional spaces and hallways,” Bonnie Camm, executive vice president of clinical services said in an email.

The hospital is asking residents to only come to the emergency room for serious illnesses or injury.

According to a report from the Region of Waterloo Public Health and Paramedic Services, Waterloo Region saw the highest number of reported influenza cases in the past five years last flu season, with 571.

Stats in Waterloo Region, from the Integrated Public Health Information System.

During the first two seasons of the pandemic, there was a sharp decline in influenza cases. But the numbers have quickly returned to pre-pandemic levels.

“Last year with a lot of the protections being dropped, with COVID still on the mind, flu was kind of an outlier, but it’s hard to know what this year will bring,” David Aoki, director, infectious disease, sexual health and harm reduction for the Region of Waterloo, said.

So far this season, the region has reported three cases of influenza and said RSV cases still remain low. But the numbers tend to increase around November through to May.

“There’s lots of factors that play into it. How well our population is vaccinated, whether the vaccine is a very good match for the circulating strains and also how well we’re protecting ourselves,” Aoki said.

Healthcare professionals said the usual health guidelines apply for staying safe, like proper handwashing and wearing a mask when sick.

“Stay home if you’re sick. If you’re sick, it’s best not to spread it around to others in the workplace. Same for children. We hate kids missing school, but they’re great places to spread and then bring it back to other families,” Aoki said.

As for COVID-19 in the community, public health said cases are on the rise. As of Thursday, the Region reported 128 new cases of COVID 19. So far this season, 3,397 cases have been reported. Last year, there were 27,875 lab confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the region, 505 cases were associated with a fatal outcome.

In the past 90 days, the number of COVID-19 cases has climbed. The region averaged 0.2 cases per 100,000 people on July 10, 2023. As of Oct. 5, 2023, the region is reporting three cases per 100,000. There is also 10 current outbreaks of COVID-19 in high risk settings, including six long term care and retirement homes, two congregate settings and two hospitals.

“So COVID-19 is here, and that’s why it’s so important that we be reflected and thoughtful about the measures available to us,” Dr. Matthew Tenenbaum, associate medical officer of health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph said on Thursday.

Health professionals said some high risk people may already have access to COVID-19 and influenza vaccines and can check with their family doctor. When the vaccines become available at the end of the month for everyone, they encourage all residents to get a shot.