Hospital in Hamilton saw 250-plus kids with flu-like symptoms in 1 day

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Published May 20, 2022 at 8:04 pm

Parents in the Hamilton area are being asked to consider care options after the local children’s hospital set a one-day record for seeing child patients with flu-like symptoms.

The McMaster Children’s Hospital (MCH), in a Twitter thread, says that its emergency department saw more than 250 children with flu-like symptoms on May 16. That resulted in prolonged wait times and MCH is emphasizing that high fevers are not always reason enough to take a child to the emergency department.

“We’re seeing different viruses circulating, some causing very high fevers,” Dr. Christopher Sulowski, interim chief of the pediatric emergency department at MCH, stated in the thread. “These high fevers don’t always necessitate a trip to the ED. Instead, keep kids hydrated and comfortable with medications.”

Mild symptoms and injuries can be treated at home or by a family doctor, MCH added. Taking a child to an urgent care centre is also encouraged. Hamilton has two that are open 365 days a year. They are staffed with the emergency care physicians at all times.

  • Main Street West Urgent Care (Hamilton Health Sciences), at 690 Main St. W., is open from 12 noon till 7 p.m. daily.
  • Urgent Care — King Campus (St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton), at 2757 King St. E., is open from 8 a.m. till 10 p.m. daily.

The thread did not mention whether the spike in visits was related to COVID-19 activity.

Most indicators of the virus’ activity in Hamilton are showing a decrease. The others are stable, according to the City of Hamilton COVID-19 dashboard.

Further information about care options in Hamilton can be found at needadoc.ca.

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