In an email to CTV News, hospital chief operating officer Sarah Bell said before April 2021, there were 135 visits a day to the ED. It now averages 142 to 150 hits a day, a 20 percent increase compared to this time last year. “We are starting to see an increase in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases, which is expected based on trends we are seeing from other parts of Canada and around the world,” Bell wrote, adding that while the rate is relatively low, hospital has established an Emergency Center. “Activating an EOC is a practice often used to proactively manage patient access and flow in nearly all acute care facilities,” Bell said. RSV cases are steadily increasing across the country and are occurring earlier, according to Dr. Pascal Lavoie, a professor of pediatrics at UBC and a neonatologist at BC Children’s Hospital. “We’ve seen an increase in RSV cases in BC across the province in the last couple of weeks, which is a little earlier than we usually see,” said Lavoie. “Normally, the viral season starts in mid to late November. This year it’s a few weeks earlier.” Cases also often occur in children. Lavoie said his research suggests this is largely due to a lack of exposure to viruses during the pandemic. “We could detect that we lost some immunity at the population level and that made older children more susceptible to these respiratory infections,” he said, adding that most infections are mild. RSV is a very common infection, and Lavoie said it can mostly present itself as nasal congestion, but that can be very serious for infants. “Especially those who are less than six months (of age) because their airwaves are small, they may sometimes need to be hospitalized while they’re going through it and clear the virus on their own and sometimes they need some oxygen. ” he said. The rise in infections has already forced changes in Ontario. Intensive care patients aged 14 and over can now be admitted to adult ICU beds to help build capacity in children’s hospitals. When asked if BC would follow suit, Health Minister Adrian Dix said, “We’re not seeing that situation at (BC) Children’s (Hospital) yet, but we’re preparing, obviously.”
