Hospital has handle on ‘crisis’ of sick kids

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The Children’s Hospital is reassuring parents it won’t run out of space or staff despite children getting sick at an unprecedented rate.

Dr. Elisabete Doyle, section head of emergency pediatric medicine, said there is no indication the hospital will end up so far overcapacity that it cannot accept patients as this flu season stretches on.

“I would still say it’s a crisis in the sense that it’s really challenging our resources, but has it overcome our resources? No,” she said during a virtual news conference Tuesday to update the public on ER patient volumes.

Upcoming holiday gatherings and crowded events such as school concerts will make existing public-health measures more important to reduce the burden on the hospital, but Doyle said she’s not in favour of cancelling events rather than people staying home when they’re sick.

“If people use the public health measures widely, I’m not as worried about the impact. If people don’t use them or are unwise in using them, then I think we’ll run into trouble.”

The rate of influenza among Manitoba kids is 4.5 times what it was in November 2019 — a year in which general flu transmission was considered high.

On Monday, 174 children showed up at the ER and 16 were admitted to hospital. Roughly half of those visits and admissions were due to influenza or respiratory synctyial virus (RSV), Doyle said.

A minority of children develop complications such as bacterial pneumonia or bronchiolitis, which is commonly caused by RSV.

The rate of complications is being examined, Doyle said, but she didn’t have specific numbers to show how likely children are to develop complications. The hospital registered 140 cases of bronchiolitis this month — 3.5 times higher than in November 2019.

About one-quarter of patients who show up at the ER don’t need urgent care and could be seen at a doctor’s office instead, Doyle said. Shared Health is directing Manitobans to a newly created website, kidscaremb.ca, to help them figure out where to go when their children are sick.

“I worked all weekend overnights. I would suspect based on what we’re seeing, probably at least a 25 per cent decrease in the number of visits if we could have patients directed to the appropriate place for care,” Doyle said.

Authorities plan to send pamphlets to schools to explain the benefit of children getting a flu shot, given the low uptake this season.

Flu shot vaccination rates for children are around nine per cent. The latest provincial respiratory virus epidemiological report showed 8.7 per cent of children under five, and 8.5 per cent of five- to 17-year-olds, have received their flu shots this year.

Doyle said the low uptake is concerning.

“I’m very surprised that people don’t recognize how beneficial the vaccine is,” she said, adding she understands people are fatigued and more public education is necessary.

Flu shots are typically available in October.

The health system was “caught off guard a little bit,” when the respiratory viruses hit earlier than expected, in mid-October, Doyle said, so it’s not an excuse not to get the shot.

Meanwhile, health officials are discussing how to surge up capacity at the Children’s Hospital. Long-term efforts to prepare for flu season will mean hiring the right staff — respiratory therapists and specialists as well as nurses — to “weather the storm,” Doyle said.

The pediatric ICU usually has nine beds, but can scale up to 14, she said.

On Tuesday morning, 11 patients were in the unit. Forty-seven patients were in the newborn ICU, which has a baseline capacity of 50 beds.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com