Alberta hospitals battle wave of sick children as viral illnesses surge
CBC
Children's hospitals in Alberta are under intense pressure as they deal with an influx of sick kids and a growing number who are seriously ill.
Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary and the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton are battling a tsunami of viral illnesses including influenza, RSV and common cold viruses.
They're also seeing some cases of COVID-19.
"This is by far the busiest pediatric emergency departments across the country have probably ever been," said Dr. Stephen Freedman, a professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at the University of Calgary.
"When you combine [ongoing staffing shortages] with very high volumes of children seeking emergency department care and the acuity, which is quite high, that really is leading to emergency departments that are bursting at the seams."
Since late September posted wait times have spiked to 17 hours at the Alberta Children's Hospital (ACH) and 16.5 hours at the Stollery.
The number of children triaged at ACH as needing urgent, emergent and critical care (in the form of resuscitation) jumped by 24 per cent in September compared to the same month in 2021, according to Alberta Health Services.
The Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton saw an increase of 5.5 per cent.
Pediatric hospital admissions are up too, according to AHS.
"The Stollery and Alberta Children's Hospital have been overwhelmed," said Dr. Sam Wong, president of the section of pediatrics with the Alberta Medical Association.
With so many children getting sick, he said, they're seeing a higher number of seriously ill kids including some pre-teens who are hit particularly hard with influenza.
"They're ending up in ICU requiring intubation and blood pressure support. So it's a serious illness," he said.
Four of the 13 Albertans who've ended up in intensive care with the flu so far this season have been children younger than nine.
It's a trend Dr. Eddy Lang is seeing among children with RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, too.
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