Kids with COVID flock to ER at McMaster Children’s Hospital

The sixth wave is hitting McMaster Children's Hospital with high numbers of kids coming to the emergency department with COVID.

The emerg department is much busier," said Dr. Angelo Mikrogianakis, chief of pediatrics. More kids are unwell and picking up the virus and being sick for a few days so those pressures are on our emergency department. We have unseasonably high volumes and high wait times."

So far, the surge has not resulted in more kids being admitted to the hospital for COVID.

There are more kids that are unwell, but not so sick that they're needing to come into hospital and be admitted," said Mikrogianakis. If you look at our hospital admissions, they're about the same as they have been throughout the COVID pandemic."

However, Public Health Ontario cautioned that trend could change as rising numbers of kids get infected by the more transmissible BA.2 Omicron subvariant, which is driving the sixth wave and has been dominant in the province since around March 10.

The number of children with severe disease is likely to increase," stated the agency's report on BA.2 dated April 8. This may impact pediatric hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) capacity, and also lead to further disruption to in-person learning in Ontario."

So far there has been no sign of more severe illness in kids, Ontario's chief medical officer of health said on April 11.

There has been no significant rise in the risk of children in the intensive care unit," said Dr. Kieran Moore. We have not seen any significant threat to the health of children."

McMaster had six kids with COVID in hospital as of April 13. It's working internally and with other Ontario children's hospitals to prepare for any potential uptick.

The number of admitted pediatric COVID patients ... has remained low and relatively stable through the Omicron and sixth waves," the hospital said in statement.'

But the emergency department is a different story, reflecting the increased spread of Omicron in the community.

McMaster saw 466 kids with COVID in January and February alone - nearly eight a day.

The volume of kids coming ... are very high, and when combined with staffing pressures, the system is very challenged," stated McMaster.

Hamilton's hospitals have been struggling with high number of staff and physicians off work self-isolating. While it's not broken down by hospital, Hamilton Health Sciences was missing 371 of its workforce on April 14.

Our staff are coming up sick and need to isolate," said Mikrogianakis.

Both Public Health Ontario and Mikrogianakis provide the same reasons for the climbing numbers of infections in kids.

We've started to open up our society and we've decreased our mask mandates," said Mikrogianakis. We have more freedoms and we're getting back to normal."

Public Health Ontario directly linked dropping masks as a factor in the rise of the sixth wave and recommended it be required again in public settings including schools.

It advised a cautious approach because there are gaps in surveillance data to inform timely public health action related to Ontario's pediatric population."

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board has also called for a reinstatement of mandatory masks in open letters to the ministry of education and city's public health department.

In the absence of a mandate, Mikrogianakis said every family has to choose for themselves what they prioritize.

Every decision has a consequence that goes along with it," said Mikrogianakis.

For those who don't want to wear masks: With this COVID and how contagious it is, it's highly likely that it's going to come into your home and that you're going to get to get the illness. The good news is (kids) don't get severely ill," he said.

For those who don't want to get COVID: If you don't want your child to get sick, then the way to minimize that is to wear a mask. Make sure that everyone who can be vaccinated is vaccinated," said Mikrogianakis.

Public Health Ontario also raised the low vaccine coverage for children. There is no COVID shot for kids under five. Uptake is low for those age five to 11, with just one in two having one dose and one in three having two doses. For those age 12 to 17, only 14 per cent have had their third booster dose.

From a pediatrician's perspective, all the vaccines that we offer to kids are safe and one of the most effective public health measures we have and that includes the COVID vaccine," said Mikrogianakis. We think it's a safe and effective way to minimize their illness if they are to get COVID now and to make sure they have as light an illness as possible."

Joanna Frketich is a health reporter at The Spectator. jfrketich@thespec.com