© Provided by Winnipeg Sun The number of daily patients at HSC-Children’s averaged 131.5 in December down from the 170.3 reported in November.
The children’s department at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg continues to see an influx of infants and toddlers suffering from severe respiratory symptoms.
On Thursday, Shared Health reported that there were 21 pediatric patients receiving intensive care at midnight. The baseline capacity of the pediatric ICU (PICU) is nine. Shared Health says the majority of the patients had symptoms associated with influenza A and RSV bronchiolitis.
Patient volumes in December are down from the record-breaking pace of November. During the month of December, HSC-Children’s has averaged 131.5 patients per day, which is down from the 170.3 reported in November.
Despite the high number of patients in the PICU reported, emergency surgeries are continuing.
“Surgical teams continue to work to minimize postponements for elective surgeries as much as possible based on available staffing and capacity,” Shared Health said in a news release. “No postponements of pediatric elective procedures were reported last week.”
There were 50 patients in the neonatal ICU (NICU) on Thursday morning.
Almost half of the patients visiting the children’s emergency department at HSC on Wednesday had the flu or were experiencing flu-like symptoms.
Shared Health says that most patients are coming in, being treated and then leaving. A lot of children are coming in quite sick, which affects patient flow and impacts wait times with lower-acuity needs. Shared Health reported that 74 of 131 patients Wednesday were triaged as high- to mid-acuity.
Health officials are continuing to encourage Manitobans to get vaccinated, particularly for influenza. Influenza B has yet to arrive in Manitoba. As of Dec. 17, there have been 2,206 cases of influenza A in Manitoba.
“Complications from influenza are rare but can include pneumonia, heart failure and invasive bacterial infections,” Shared Health said in its release.
Vaccines are available through family doctors and at most pharmacies. As of Dec. 17, 25% of Manitobans have gotten their flu shot.
Provincial data from the week ending Dec. 17 shows that children below the age of five years are at the highest risk for flu infection. The group accounted for 12% of all influenza cases and 14% of hospital admissions. The majority of influenza deaths (70%) have happened in those aged 65 and older.
rstelter@postmedia.com
Twitter: @steltsy94
To sign up for Ryan’s weekly newsletter GIMME STELTER, click here.
