Child receiving vaccination (image credit: CFJC NEWS)

By Sydney Chisholm

Cold and flu season

Health officials expect surge of cold and flu cases in Kamloops

Nov 15, 2022 | 5:05 PM

KAMLOOPS — Cold and flu season has already begun and health officials are urging residents to take steps to protect themselves before the peak of the season hits.

“We are seeing a slower start to the respiratory season in BC compared to particularly other provinces,” Dr. Carol Fenton, Interior Health Medical Officer told CFJC Today.

“But that’s not to say that we don’t still need to do everything we can to prevent those scenarios [from] happening here.”

According to Fenton, respiratory illness season usually peaks in the week between Christmas and New Years, and Interior Health is expecting the surge in cold and flu cases to only get worse.

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While absentee rates in Kamloops-Thompson schools are lower than in other jurisdictions, Dr. Trent Smith, a local pediatrician, said it may just be the calm before the storm.

“We’re expecting things to start ramping up here in terms of illnesses amongst children, particularly the younger kids with colds and flus,” Smith said.

“We’ve seen a lot of that in Ontario, and Alberta is now reporting a big wave, so we think BC is probably going to experience that in the coming week or two.”

Dr. Smith believes children who were not exposed to viruses over the past three years are now more susceptible to cold and flu.

“Children just didn’t develop that immunity because they haven’t come across those viruses yet. There’s been a bit of a buildup of – we call them immune naive children, who haven’t been exposed to the usual run of childhood illnesses, who this year are being exposed to all of that stuff,” Dr. Smith said.

“We’ve sort of saved up a couple of years worth of kids and now it looks like – at least in other areas of the country – they’re getting sick.”

According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, only 50 per cent of Kamloops children between the ages of five and 11 have received their first COVID-19 shot.

“COVID vaccination rates for those under the age of 11 are still very low,” said Fenton, “so that population needs that protection from their primary series and it’s really important to get vaccinated against COVID, no matter what age you are.”

The health officer said everyone is reminded to stay up to date on both their COVID-19 and influenza vaccines, as well as continue practicing health and safety protocols, including staying home when feeling ill, wearing a mask in crowded spaces and frequent hand washing.

“The public health interventions we had in place were very effective, which is why we need to put some of them back in place now,” said Fenton.