Children being hospitalised with ‘nasty’ RSV, schools hit as winter looms

Friday, 31 May 2024

Winter is just around the corner, but already respiratory illnesses are increasing in the community and hospitals.

Hospitals are reporting seeing an increase in respiratory illnesses, such as RSV and influenza.
It comes as Aotearoa is also seeing a ‘sharp increase’ in Covid-19 cases, suggesting we’re ‘at the beginning of another wave’.
Schools say they’re starting to roster students home, as sickness hits

Schools have begun telling students to stay at home as winter illnesses hit.

Both hospitals and schools are seeing an uptick in respiratory illnesses, with influenza, Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinovirus (which causes the common cold) and Covid-19 all in the mix.

Schools are having to split classes or roster some year groups at home due to sickness.

Auckland Primary Principals’ Association president and Remuera Intermediate School principal Kyle Brewerton said sickness was “definitely on the increase”, and “widespread” across both students and staff.

Brewerton said there had been a “notable increase” in student sickness, and at its highest, nine staff members were off sick on a given day.

“Usually it’s term 3 we really start to see this,” Brewerton said.

Naenae College, in Lower Hutt, was seeing “high levels of sickness” within staff, and was “therefore forced to roster students home”, it wrote on social media.

Christchurch’s Hoon Hay School this week posted on Facebook that it had noticed “an increase in sickness” within the school recently, and encouraged people to keep their children at home if unwell.

Westland High School in Hokitika said it would roster home years 11, 12 and 13 students on Friday. It was experiencing an “intense bout of increased Covid illness” which was having a “significant effect on our capacity to provide teachers for all year groups”.

‘The most horrible thing’

For most children and healthy adults, RSV symptoms are mild (like the common cold), but it can cause serious illness — with babies, young children, those with a weakened immune system and older adults at greatest risk.

Phoenix Amy contracted RSV bronchiolitis late last year when he was under 6-months-old.

Seeing her six-month-old son in hospital needing oxygen and a feeding tube due to RSV bronchiolitis was “the most horrible thing”, mum-of-two Laura Amy says.

Amy’s son Phoenix - now 1 - was hospitalised for a week with “nasty” RSV bronchiolitis last November.

At first, Phoenix started struggling to breathe. He wasn’t feeding well and had a fever, so his mum urgently sought medical attention.

Laura Amy's infant son Phoenix needed oxygen and a feeding tube while in hospital with RSV bronchiolitis last year. She says if you think something is off with your child, trust your gut and get them checked out.

“As a mum, you just know… you know when something’s wrong,” the Hawke’s Bay woman said.

In Aotearoa, RSV is usually the most common cause of hospitalisation for lower respiratory tract infections in babies and children aged under 2, Healthify says.

Phoenix developed secondary pneumonia, and needed “lots of oxygen to help him”, Amy said.

“It was really scary.”

Dr Sarah Jefferies, Institute for Environmental Science and Research (ESR) public health physician, said over the last month, there’d been an increase in RSV and rhinovirus in children under 5 being admitted to hospital in the Auckland region, Jefferies said.

Health officials say they’ve planned for a ‘challenging’ winter, and expect to see respiratory illnesses increase.

RSV is “certainly circulating, and has been causing illness in our younger, more vulnerable children”, Jefferies said.

Snapshot: What hospitals are seeing

As of Tuesday morning, two adults and five children in Auckland and Starship hospitals, respectively, had tested positive for RSV.

“We are starting to see an increase of patients with a range of respiratory and winter-related illness present to our emergency departments, as expected at this time of year,” a Health New Zealand Te Toka Tumai Auckland spokesperson said.

“We’ve planned for a challenging winter and are expecting respiratory illness to increase.”

As of 8am on Tuesday, 11 of 32 paediatric medical inpatients in Waikato Hospital were confirmed as being RSV-positive.

There was also one RSV-positive adult patient in the intensive care unit.

Health NZ Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley had also seen “an increase” in RSV and other respiratory diagnoses over recent weeks.

ESR public health physician Dr Sarah Jefferies said as expected for this time of year, influenza-like illness activity is increasing, both in the community and hospital settings.

Data on patients requiring admission wasn’t available on short notice, but a spokesperson said they have seen “more patients, mostly children, test positive for RSV”.

In the Southern district, one person was in Southland Hospital with RSV on Tuesday morning.

Health NZ Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley strongly urged people to maintain good hand hygiene, stay home if they have any respiratory symptoms, keep children away from pre-school or kindergarten if they have coughs and colds, and wear masks on public transport.

The illness outlook

ESR monitors hospitalisations for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) across Auckland’s public hospitals.

The hospitalisation rate in Auckland remained in the “low activity” level, but had increased further in the week ending May 26 ‒ similar to the same time last year, ESR’s respiratory illness dashboard shows.

It’s early days: flu tends to peak around July, but can vary, Jeferries said.

We’re also seeing a “sharp increase” in Covid-19 cases, with levels in wastewater, hospitalisations and reported cases all increasing.

Health New Zealand’s Dr Sharon Sime said this reporting suggested “we are at the beginning of another Covid-19 wave”.

Jefferies said protecting children and those more vulnerable to respiratory illness, such as by staying home if you’re sick, was important to reduce transmission and ease pressure on health services.

Free influenza vaccines were available for eligible high-risk groups. Jefferies also recommended people stay up-to-date with Covid-19 vaccines, as well as routine childhood immunisations.

For non-urgent health concerns or advice, you can contact Healthline (0800 611 116), your local GP, healthcare provider, or community pharmacy.

Anyone who needs urgent or emergency care should go to ED or call 111.