Infants, toddlers being hospitalized at high rates as RSV surge continues in Manitoba: Shared Health

Infants and toddlers continue to face high rates of RSV-related hospitalizationin Winnipeg, butvery young children are making up the majority of those in pediatric intensive care, Shared Health said in a press release Wednesday.

Seventeen children were inthe Health Science's Centre'spediatric intensive care unitin Winnipeg as ofWednesday morning. The majority of those patientswere very young children with respiratory symptoms, including several who were "no more than a few months of age," the release said.

Whiletest positivity rates for influenza A appear be peaking in Manitoba, Shared Health says RSV-related illnesses and hospitalizations continue to rise with 18 infants and toddlers being admitted to the Children's Hospital in the first six days of January.

That's compared to 23 pediatric patients hospitalized in all of October, which ballooned to 78 in November and 119 in December.

Children under two years of age are most likely to contract severe RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, Shared Health said, and often get sick from personal interactions with people who don't acknowledge or may not know that they are experiencing cold-like symptoms.

While Children's Hospital is working to minimize postponements for elective surgeries, the release says as of Tuesday, 19 procedures have been postponed since the decision to redeploy staff to intensive care was made in mid-December.

Parents can protect the health of their children by avoiding close contact with people who are sick, masking in large crowds, as well as washing their hands and cleaning high-touch surfaces regularly.

Get flu shots: Shared Health

Patient volumes at the HSC Children's emergency department have also dipped slightly since December, dropping from an average of 130.1 patients to 124.3 per day in January.

Shared Health is strongly encouraging Manitobans to get vaccinated for Influenza A and B, cautioning that influenza A remains in circulation in the province and influenza B is yet to arrive. Those who think they may have already had the flu should still get vaccinated, Shared Health said.

A full list of locations and options to get various vaccinesfrom influenza to COVID-19 is available on the province's website.