B.C. respiratory illness season nearing peak

B.C.’s top doctor says the province can expect to see respiratory illnesses start to decline soon, but noted “we’re not out of the woods” yet.

This year, the province implemented a new PCR testing system that allows for testing of all the illnesses at once, which has allowed for better data collection this year.

At a respiratory illness update Friday, Jan. 13, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the data from those tests is showing nearly all seasonal illnesses have peaked.

“In short, the good news is [the data is] telling us influenza continues to decline following this very strong early peak that we saw in November and December,” Henry stated.

“RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) has continued to stay high but is now at where we would expect to see it this time of year and it’s leveling off, and COVID has remained relatively stable this past several months.”

Henry noted influenza has steadily declined in all age groups, and there have been no adverse events since the six children in B.C. died from the virus in December.

She added influenza A, which has been the most prominent strain in B.C. so far, is declining, but as with every respiratory illness season, cases of influenza B, which tends to be much less severe, will start to climb later in the season.

B.C. is also expanding it’s wastewater surveillance and genome sequencing abilities to collect more data on specific strains of respiratory illness in the province.

Henry noted it has been an unusual year for respiratory illnesses, as the mandates the past years under the COVID-19 pandemic including travel restrictions, limited contact with others, and online schooling and work, have led to some cohorts not being exposed to illnesses, especially younger kids.

Henry said she cannot predict if the next respiratory illness season will be similar to this year’s, but the province will be preparing.

“Watching what’s happened over the last months, things have progressed as we kind of thought they would and we’re sort of seeing less and less variation and severity of illness, so we need to keep watching for that,” the health officer said.

“I expect there will be some impact of the fact that so many more children are exposed to RSV and so many more people are exposed to influenza, but then again, influenza likes to change too, so I can’t really say. But we will be watching around the world and watching what happens in Australia and New Zealand this year.”

She added with the influenza season starting earlier than usual this year, the province was able to undertake some vaccine efficacy studies, which found that the jab reduced the need to seek medical attention by 50 per cent.

As the respiratory illness season is not over, Henry advised British Columbians continue to take steps to protect themselves and others from illnesses by getting their flu shots and their COVID-19 boosters, by staying home if they have symptoms, by limiting their exposure to vulnerable people, by washing their hands frequently and by wearing a mask in public when feeling sick.

“Respiratory illness will continue. Generally we start to see it levelling off in February, and by March, so we’re not out of the woods by any means yet,” Henry commented.

“But if we all continue to do these things, to use all of the tools to be respectful and mindful of each other, we will get out of this season in the best shape possible.”