An advisory alert for increasing respiratory illness hospitalizations in Sudbury has been issued by the Sudbury health unit.
Public Health Sudbury & Districts (PHSD) issued the alert Dec. 12, advising physicians and other health-care providers that Sudbury and districts are entering "peak respiratory infection season".
This includes an increase in the numbers of patients being admitted to Health Sciences North, said the alert.
"We are observing an increase in the number of respiratory illness hospitalizations, including those resulting from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)," said the alert statement.
In a comparison table for this year over last year, the health unit said there were 19 RSV hospital admissions for the last two weeks of November in 2024, compared to five RSV hospital admissions for the same period in 2023.
"There were 32 average daily people in hospital for the treatment of RSV during the week of November 17 to 23, most of whom were children under five (21 patients) and adults over 65 (5 patients), the two groups at highest risk of severe outcomes of RSV infections," said the PHSD statement.
The health unit said RSV symptoms usually begin within three to five days of exposure and are usually mild cold-like symptoms, that includes a runny nose, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, fever, lack of appetite and no energy.
PHSD said an RSV infection usually lasts one to two weeks and repeat infections are common.
PHSD recommends that youngsters and elderly citizens, aged 60 +, consider updating their vaccinations with influenza and COVID-19 vaccines are available through pharmacies and primary care.
The RSV older adult vaccine is available through local health care providers, at long-term care homes and congregative living settings, and hospitals. If seniors do not have access to a health care provider, please contact the health unit to book an appointment.
As for pneumonia, the health unit doesn’t track rates as it is not a reportable disease.
“M. pneumoniae is not a reportable disease and therefore Public Health has limited data on it,” the health unit states in the alert. “Public Health Ontario Laboratory testing has identified no positive results in Sudbury and district residents.”
With respect to COVID-19, data provided by the health unit actually shows a drop over last year in the number of people hospitalized with novel coronavirus. There were 23 cases of COVID in the hospital in 2024 (Nov.17 to 30) compared to 135 hospital COVID cases for the same period in 2023.
