Canadian doctors brace for another ‘tripledemic’ – COVID-19, RSV and influenza
As Canadians continue to enjoy the last bit of summer’s sun-soaked days, doctors say they are bracing for a potential “tripledemic” of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19, signalling the imminent arrival of respiratory flu season.
Last flu season — which typically runs from November to March in Canada — saw a surge of all three respiratory viruses across the country, especially among children, which was exacerbated by a scarcity of pain relievers, leading to increased hospitalizations and heightened emergency room visits.
The triple threat of respiratory viruses is expected to hit Canadians again, Toronto Public Health’s associate medical officer of health Dr. Vinita Dubey said at a virtual Ontario Medical Association (OMA) conference on Aug. 24.
“We take our lead from what’s happened in the Southern Hemisphere because their winter is before ours,” she said.
“And they certainly have had a busy season with those three viruses, and we did see that again here last year as well, too. So we are expecting this fall to see a heavy respiratory virus season, particularly with those three, RSV, influenza and COVID, among the other viruses spread around that time.”
It may be the first year since the pandemic is no longer considered a global health emergency, “but COVID is still here,” she added.
Australia’s flu season has long been looked at by Canadian health experts in preparation for flu season here. This year’s influenza season in Australia has revealed a significant trend: children aged 16 and younger bore the brunt, constituting 72 per cent of hospital admissions, according to Australian health data. The season was also met with high RSV rates.
Dr. Prabhat Jha, an epidemiologist at Unity Health Toronto,
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