As B.C. begins the busy holiday season of social gatherings, health officials are reporting a steady increase in respiratory illness, including respiratory syncytial virus and walking pneumonia in children.
RSV is up 10.3 per cent over last week, predominantly in children in the Lower Mainland, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported in an update Friday.
Flu cases remain low but are starting to rise with the number of cases reported nearly seven per cent higher than last week.
Cases of COVID-19, however, continue to drop along with hospital admissions and deaths. The CDC says there are about 84 people in hospital with COVID, down from 92 people last week and 121 people two weeks ago.
Still, health officials expect the peak of respiratory illness this season will be in the coming weeks, similar to last year. So residents — especially those at higher risk such as older adults, young children and people with weakened immune systems — are being urged to get their flu and COVID-19 immunizations if they haven’t yet.
The next respiratory illness update from the B.C. CDC will be Jan. 9.
In the meantime, cases of walking pneumonia among children appear to be growing as well as cases of RSV. Walking pneumonia is a non-medical term for a mild lung infection, usually in children and teens, caused by the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae. It’s different from RSV, which is caused by a virus rather than bacteria.
Cases of walking pneumonia, or M. pneumoniae, are not reported to public health. However, the CDC is reporting that respiratory infections caused by M. pneumoniae are higher than in previous years, particularly among people under 20 years old.
B.C. Children’s Hospital has also noted an increase in children with the bacterial infection to its emergency department since August.
Symptoms of walking pneumonia include a sore throat, sneezing, cough, headache, mild chills and a low-grade fever, and treatment usually involves antibiotics or over-the-counter medicine.
Samples collected by the Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network also show heightened M. pneumoniae activity in B.C., compared to last season. Health officials say the increase is similar to the situation in the U.S.
The American CDC says M. pneumoniae has increased in the United States since late spring and has remained high. The CDC is also reaching out to health care providers and health departments to raise awareness of an increase in infections and to monitor for antibiotic resistance.
Advice from public health officials is to practice habits such as washing hands frequently and staying home when sick.
Health officials say if a child has a fever that lasts longer than five days, take them to a hospital emergency room. Any child under three months of age with a fever should go to the ER right away.
Parents should also seek medical attention for children if they have coughing that is getting worse.
With files from Glenda Luymes
