Royal Inland Hospital experiencing an influx of influenza

For many parents, it can be scary watching their little ones get so ill. It can also be tough to know when you should seek medical attention for your sick child.

“If the child is younger than three months, we’d like the child to be seen if they’ve got a high fever,” Dr. Van Zyl explains. “If they’re at all immune-compromised — so an ill child that’s got some other issues. If the fever has been going on for more than five days, it’s very important that we have a look at them.”

A shortage of medicine — especially children’s medicine — has made cold flu season that much more difficult this year.

“I may have one bottle of pediatric cough syrup. There’s been no regular supply for months now,” Chris Cameron, pharmacist and owner of Pratt’s Compounding Pharmacy, explains. “Even for adults, what we normally have is rows of NeoCitran and some of the things that just allow people to have a good night’s sleep without coughing — we can’t get.”

According to Cameron, the demand for these types of products almost completely fell off during the pandemic.

“Over the last two years during COVID, we essentially expired all of our cough and cold [medicine] without any market there,” Cameron says. “This year, it’s probably just a bit of a supply and demand curve, from what we understand. There are certainly efforts to ramp that up, but manufacturing takes time — there’s a lag time before it hits the shelves.”

Compounding pharmacies like Pratt’s are able to create medicines to help treat patients. However, Dr. Van Zyl suggests vaccination as a protective measure against respiratory illnesses, such as the flu.

“Most of the children that are admitted are unvaccinated,” Dr. Van Zyl says. “If you do want to guard, the best thing you can do for your children is to get vaccinated.”

And if your child gets sick, and they don’t appear to get better, he also suggests trusting your parental instincts.

“Your gut feeling is very important,” Dr. Van Zyl says. “If you as a parent feel your child is really unwell — very lethargic, very sleepy, not looking well at all — we’d prefer the child to be looked at.”

If you don’t want to visit the ER immediately but still have concerns, you can always call HealthLink BC at 811. And of course, Dr. Van Zyl suggests prevention can be key to avoiding the flu.

“Washing your hands, treating your fever, wearing a mask, and not going to work or sending your kids to school if they have an illness. Very important.”

by Adam Donnelly

Royal Inland Hospital experiencing an influx of influenza

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