At Pharmasave in Kelowna, British Columbia’s Glenmore area, some shelves that are normally stocked with over-the-counter medications to treat flu symptoms and other respiratory illnesses are pretty sparse.
“Flu medicine sales are crazy to say the least,” said owner pharmacist Craig Tostenson.
With unusually high demand for drugs this flu season, manufacturers are struggling to keep up.
“Because sales are in a really tough flu season, demand will continue,” Tostenson told Global News.
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This year’s flu season is being described as significantly different from previous years.
“It started earlier and was more noticeable,” said Dr. Fateme Sabet, a health officer with Interior Health (IH).
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Waves of COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have led health experts to call it a “tridemic,” a triple threat that is straining health care.
“We’ve seen an increase in various respiratory infections at the same time this year,” Sabet said. “This is something we haven’t seen at this level in the years before the pandemic.”
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In the Inland Health region, while November and December saw the peak in terms of case numbers, IH said respiratory diseases were still having a big impact.
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“We continue to see respiratory infections at a high level,” Sabet said.
After being the main culprit early in the season, Sabet said flu numbers have decreased.
However, this is not the case with RSV and COVID.
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“The number of RSV infections is going up, the number of COVID infections is going up slightly,” she said.
Although severe outcomes such as hospitalizations and deaths are currently stable, IH says there are people who should be especially careful.
“Individuals who are older or younger, infants under six months of age and individuals with underlying medical conditions,” Sabet said. “So it’s more important for these people to be aware that respiratory infections are still circulating.”
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Sabet urged the public, and especially vulnerable populations, to take steps to protect themselves.
“The best thing we can do is keep up with our vaccines,” she said. “Stay home when you are sick or when you have any symptoms of a respiratory infection and also follow hygiene measures such as washing your hands or avoiding touching your face, sneezing or coughing into your elbow and wearing masks if necessary.”
IH said the Omicron variant continues to be the most dominant strain of COVID-19 circulating in the health region. Health officials are now keeping an eye on its new version, the XBB1.5 subvariant.
While IH said most of the cases in British Columbia were in the Lower Mainland, health officials said it was likely only a matter of time before that region was affected.
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“Given our previous experience with circulating respiratory infections. Interior Health is following the number of cases in the Lower Mainland,” Sabet said. “So we expect an increase in numbers here as well.”
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