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Ottawa Public Health is anticipating a repeat of last fall’s “triple-demic” of viruses, with swelling numbers for COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
“The 2023-2024 season is expected to be similar to that of last year. OPH is already seeing an increase in COVID-19 activity and outbreaks in the community,” wrote Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa’s medical officer of health, in a report that is to go Monday to the city’s board of health.
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“Ottawa will once again see early circulation and peaking of influenza and RSV, along with an ongoing burden of COVID-19 in the community,” says the report, which details OPH’s 2023-2024 Respiratory Season Preparedness Plan.
This fall, OPH is anticipating “sporadic circulation of influenza A and B and RSV beginning in September, increasing in October and peaking in December, followed by a gradual decline.”
Last fall, respiratory virus season began early, in October, and peaked early, in December. Influenza A and RSV numbers were high, while COVID-19’s impact was an “ongoing high burden,” the report says.
In the fall of 2022, tests in hospitals and outbreak settings tallied 11,439 Ottawa residents with COVID-19 and 913 with the flu. Older adults had the highest rates of COVID-19, while influenza and RSV rates were highest in infants and young children, as CHEO experienced “an unprecedented surge” in emergency department visits and admissions.
The report calls immunization “critical” for reducing the risks of severe illness for people at greatest risk, but says flu vaccination among Ottawa children remains low, as do rates of COVID-19 booster uptake across all ages.
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Influenza vaccines are to be rolled out to hospital and long-term care home residents, staff, and caregivers at the end of this month, says the report. Vaccinations for high-risk individuals and health care workers are slated for October, while shots for the general population are to start in November.
At community clinics, after-school clinics and neighbourhood health and wellness hubs, OPH will be offering flu and COVID-19 shots to young children, their household members, newcomers and people with OHIP.
Citing the Canadian Health Survey of Children and Youth, the OPH report says most Ottawa children do not receive an annual flu vaccine. The report says OPH will take steps to highlight the value of flu vaccination for children, youths and other higher-risk groups.
As for COVID-19 vaccination coverage, as of August this year, one-quarter of Ottawa residents age 5 and older had had their primary series of shots and received a booster in the last six to 12 months. The rates for boosters in the last six months were 12 per cent for Ottawans in their 60s, 27 per cent for those in their 70s, and 29 per cent of people 80 and older.
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Later this month, Ontario’s Ministry of Health is expected to release its timeline for this fall’s COVID-19 booster program.
The OPH plan also calls for shifting its communications from “COVID-only prevention” towards a broader community understanding that ‘all respiratory illnesses require prevention and mitigation measures.'”
OPH’s messages to the sick will include: staying home when sick until they are fever-free and symptoms have been improving for 24 hours (48 hours for vomiting/diarrhea); avoiding non-essential mask-less activities for 10 days from when your symptoms started; and wearing a mask when recovering.
OPH will encourage those at higher risk to educate themselves on how to seek testing and assessment for COVID-19 treatment with antiviral medication including Paxlovid. OPH makes rapid antigen test kits available at vaccine clinics and health and wellness hubs, and its test kit distribution will expand this fall, says the report.
As of this month, the OPH’s Respiratory and Enteric Surveillance Dashboard shows hospitalization counts and levels for each virus, as was information on outbreaks and trend data.
phum@postmedia.com
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OPH report outlines concerns over 'triple-demic' wave of viruses in Ottawa this season - Ottawa Citizen
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