Pediatricians urge action to help cut down illnesses

Pediatricians called this week for stronger protective health measures as hospitals continue to grapple with a surge of sick children.

Representatives from the Alberta Medical Association's Section of Pediatrics said they're recommending immediate mitigation measures like increased public messaging around the efficacy of influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations and a temporary mask requirement in schools that could be reassessed after the winter peak of respiratory virus season.

Pediatrician Dr. Kyle Mckenzie said in a statement that immediate action could help stem the spread of respiratory viruses leading to “unprecedented wait times in emergency departments and overcapacity pediatric in-patient and outpatient units throughout the province.”

But at an announcement in Calgary on Friday, Health Minister Jason Copping said with shorterterm actions like the government's plan to import five million bottles of children's fever reducers the province is broadly “building capacity” in the health system.

“We continue to hire, continue to train more individuals. And then looking at flow: how do we actually move people through our hospital system, through our acute-care system quicker and the hand-offs move faster to be able to provide the care we need.”

Alberta Health Services official administrator John Cowell, appointed to the role just a few weeks ago, added he's proud of the “tough calls” hospitals have had to make for the sake of handling an acute crisis. While the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton has been managing with Stollery doctors taking additional shifts, in Calgary, respite care staff from a child's hospice centre had to be redeployed to the Alberta Children's Hospital.

“They pitched in and got through it. I think that is a sign of really knowing what to do when you hit the absolute unusual,” Cowell said.

“I'd just like to tell you, on my journey of discovery over the last few weeks, I'm getting increasingly optimistic that we really do know what we're doing, although it may not seem that way when you're faced with this crisis,” he added. “And it is a crisis, but boy, I tell you, Alberta Health Services has got their act together, and they're getting better and better at it.”

Circulation of COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have together led to even more strain on hospitals after nearly three difficult pandemic years.

Asked whether Alberta might consider mass flu vaccination clinics to increase immunization rates, Copping said only that the province's current flu vaccination campaign continues, with many people receiving text messages to let them know shots are available through AHS clinics or at pharmacies.

He said he's encouraged that Alberta's flu vaccination rates increased by more than three per cent over the last two weeks.

At the end of November, provincial chief medical officer of health Dr. Mark Joffe wrote a letter to parents about flu season, outlining mitigation measures and recommending vaccination as “the best defence from serious illness.” But Joffe hasn't appeared at a public briefing to answer questions.

Alberta Health data shows a much larger and earlier spike in flu cases this year in more than a decade, with only the emergence of the H1N1 virus in 2009 eclipsing 2022's mid-november high. But cases have been dropping since then, and Copping said he's hopeful that will soon be reflected in hospitals.

Flu transmission can peak more than once before winter ends, so cases could spike again.