N.W.T. rolls out early RSV program, bivalent COVID boosters to head off potentially 'severe' season

As flu season approaches, the N.W.T.'s health department is moving early to fight back a mixture of viruses — RSV, COVID-19 and influenza.

Dr. Kami Kandola, the N.W.T.'s chief public health officer, issued a public health advisory Tuesday for what she warned could be a "severe" season for respiratory viruses.

She said her office has started to see lab-confirmed cases of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, in young children. It is also seeing more severe respiratory issues and hospitalizations of young kids under five, and the territory has now recorded its first lab-confirmed flu case of the season.

That means her department is launching its antibody program to protect infants at risk of RSV on Nov. 1 — earlier than usual. Flu vaccines are also available, and health workers have begun giving out bivalent COVID-19 vaccinations to anyone 18 and older, with more bivalent options on the way.

Kandola joined CBC's Loren McGinnis Thursday morning on The Trailbreaker to discuss the program.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Let's start off with RSV. Can you explain what it is and why you're raising the concern about it now?

RSV is a respiratory virus, and typically it can present with mild symptoms for the majority — fever, runny nose, cough. But in young children, especially those under two, it can lead to pneumonia and inflammation of their small airways, which we call bronchiolitis, and it can lead to hospitalizations.

What's of concern for myself is, in the Northwest Territories, typically we have a limited RSV season — it's in the winter months. Typically, we start to see RSV in December and then it starts to fade out in April. What was unusual last year is that in our wastewater monitoring, we were seeing RSV all the way up until late July — and RSV is starting early now. We've seen cases since October. So our RSV season is starting early and we've already noted a few hospitalizations.

We are rolling out our Synagis program, which is a monoclonal antibody. We target the very, very vulnerable, which are our premature infants, infants with chronic lung diseases and those with unstable significant heart disease. So we're going to roll that out on Nov. 1.

The season lasted a long time, where it hung around late last season, and it's starting early now. Do you have any sense of why that might be?

This is not just happening in the Northwest Territories. We've seen it in the U.S. For two years, we had COVID-19 measures — we had mandatory masking, limited gatherings in terms of size. So we had all these precautions that protected us from the COVID-19 virus, but it also protected us from the flu, the common cold and RSV. Now that we've lifted the measures, kids are going back to daycares and schools, and are interacting. And now they're experiencing these viruses all at once, at the same time.

In terms of RSV, based on how it spreads, what do we need to do?

Take the same precautions that will protect you from the flu, from the common cold and from COVID. First of all, parents, if your child is sick, stay home until they're better so it doesn't spread in daycares or to other kids. Practise good hand-washing. Wear a mask when appropriate. Cover your coughs and sneezes.