Flu infections grow in N.W.T., with RSV, COVID-19 on the decline

It's been a tough fall for Yellowknifer Nathalie Oldfield and her young son, Leeroy. Since September, the 18-month-old has been battling a slew of flu bugs, each caught while he was attending a dayhome in town.

"We were warned that going into daycare was going to be rough, but it was rougher than we expected," Oldfield said. "It just seemed like it was one thing to another … an endless runny nose, and coughing."

In all, Oldfield estimates she and her partner have missed nearly 20 days of work between the two of them having to stay home and take care of Leeroy. At one point, they were staving off a virus themselves.

"One of the versions I had fully knocked me out for an entire weekend. I couldn't get up at all. I was so weak," Oldfield said. "We kind of limped along and made it work, but it was pretty challenging."

Oldfield's family is far from alone in their struggle this season. Communities across the country have been smacked with an ongoing wave of respiratory illnesses such as influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), putting undue strain on health care facilities and staff.

In the North, both Nunavut and the Yukon have reported a worrisome flu season — and the N.W.T. is certainly no exception, according to the territory's chief public health officer.

Influenza overtakes RSV, COVID-19 

The N.W.T. experienced an earlier start than normal to its respiratory illness season this year, which started in mid-October. Dr. Kami Kandola said at the time that her office had already started to see lab-confirmed cases of RSV.

In an interview with CBC on Friday, Kandola said RSV — and COVID-19 — now seems to be on the downswing in territory.

Instead, the two are being overtaken by an uptick in influenza.

"The flu season … definitely ramped up in November," Kandola said. "We are seeing a lot of influenza in young children, but every age group is impacted."

A spokesperson for the N.W.T.'s health department confirmed in an email to CBC that there have been several hospitalizations for respiratory illness this fall, but declined to provide raw numbers, citing privacy concerns.

CBC has requested current data on confirmed influenza and COVID-19 cases in the N.W.T.

At the moment, Kandola said the territory's healthcare system isn't under extraneous strain as a result of these hospitalizations. However, she said they will continue to monitor the situation closely — especially since flu numbers are expected to peak after the holiday season.

"We know there's New Year's Eve parties, we know there's family gatherings … indoors," Kandola said. "If someone is sick, that's how it's going to spread, and magnify and intensify."

Schools feeling impact of viruses, too

With children especially hard hit this year, the impacts are also reverberating through N.W.T. schools.

Jameel Aziz, superintendent of Yellowknife District No. 1, said his board has been tracking attendance of both its students and staff, and comparing the numbers to previous flu seasons (minus the two years of the pandemic).

Though unable to provide any numbers, Aziz noted that there's noticeably more absences so far this year due to illness. He said it's "absolutely posing a challenge" to the six schools in his district, especially when it comes to staffing.

"We're doing a lot of class combinations, because we also have a shortage of substitute teachers," Aziz said. "It's a matter of each day, coming in, taking an assessment of who's present both for staff and students, then trying to figure out the best ways to provide service."

Aziz praised educators in his district for their perseverance through this time. He said the upcoming winter break may provide everyone with some much-needed respite from in-school exposure.

"We're hopeful that rest and time away will give people the opportunity to recharge, collect their overall good health, then come back in January with some better reserves."

'Never too late' to get vaccinated, says Kandola

In the meantime, Kandola offered a number of ways to stay safe, with getting vaccinated being the most important among them.

"The best thing people can do to save the health care system [from stress] is get the flu vaccine," Kandola said. "We're only at 20 per cent uptake. We know the flu is here … and we anticipate more cases come the holiday period. So, it's never too late."

Residents in Yellowknife can book an appointment for flu and bivalent COVID-19 vaccinations through the territorial government's online booking system. Those elsewhere in the N.W.T. can schedule by calling their local health care centre.

Kandola also suggested hand-washing, wearing masks, and staying home when sick to reduce the spread.