If you’ve noticed that your kids are getting sick more often lately, you’re probably not the only one.
The College of Family Physicians of PEI says doctors have seen a large number of children with respiratory illnesses other than COVID-19 recently.
Dr. Heather Austin, the college’s president, said there were a number of factors that could have contributed to the increase, including the fact that during the pandemic, children had little exposure to these respiratory viruses.
“We’re seeing a lot of upper respiratory disease in our population right now,” she said.
She said the removal of mandates and public health restrictions also play a role.
“Mostly, it’s moving away from mandatory masking regulations and getting us to be in close proximity and able to spread all the different viruses and pathogens that are in our environment back to each other.”
Dr. Heather Austin says that usually the virus can include mild symptoms for three to five days, such as a low-grade fever, congestion, cough, sore throat and runny nose. In some cases, the cough can last up to three weeks. (increase)
Austin said many older adults have built up immunity to many of these viruses, but when it comes to children, some are likely being exposed to certain viruses for the first, second or third time.
“They don’t have the same built-up immunity, so they’re more likely to develop an infection from exposure,” she said.
Austin also said it can seem like kids are getting colds or illnesses that just won’t go away. But it is more likely that the child is actually infected with a number of different viruses, one after the other.
According to the latest influenza data, there are 50 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza in the province for the 2021-2022 season. The average age of these cases is about 12 years.
The emergency department also saw a spike in illnesses
The spike in respiratory illnesses is something emergency room physician Dr. Trevor Jane has noticed, too.
“In the last six weeks, we have seen an increase in respiratory illnesses in the pediatric population, and this is mostly related to the change in mandates,” Jain said.
He said it is unusual to see increased respiratory illness at this time of year. Infections from the flu and other viruses typically peak in the fall, winter or early spring among children, Jain said.
“We’re talking about everything from the common cold to RSV [respiratory syncytial virus]to croup, increased asthma due to viral infections, even some pneumonias,” he said.
“It was a little unexpected, but when you think about it, you know we have increased population mixing, mandates falling, so it just shows that these pre-vaccination public health measures have been very effective in limiting the spread of respiratory disease.” ”
Emergency room physician Dr. Trevor Jain says doctors at the hospital have seen an increase in patients with everything from the common cold to pneumonia over the past 6 weeks. (Skype)
Jain said the emergency department is now starting to see the number of admissions for respiratory illnesses decrease.
Dr. Austin said that typically the virus can include mild symptoms for three to five days, such as a low-grade fever, congestion, cough, sore throat and runny nose. The cough can sometimes last up to three weeks in some cases, and just as the child recovers, they catch another virus.
“The times you would want to seek medical attention would be a persistent fever, certainly a fever of more than five days,” Austin said.
“If they are very lethargic, sleepy, not themselves, not eating and drinking as usual.”
She said if a child is in pain or struggling to breathe, they should also get medical attention.
To limit the spread of respiratory illnesses, Austin said people should make sure they wash their hands regularly and stay home if they feel sick.
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