More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
As pediatric hospitals fill up with young children sickened by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), doctors are worried that older adults will be the next wave to become seriously ill.
“Right now everyone is razor focused on kind of what's happening in our pediatric hospitals,” said Dr. Samir Sinha, director of geriatrics at Sinai Health and University Health Network in Toronto.
“It's almost a snapshot of what we think will happen in our adult hospitals as well.”
Infectious disease experts have reported an earlier and harsher than usual RSV and flu season, partly because the COVID-19 pandemic health measures in previous years protected against those viruses as well.
But seniors are also vulnerable to serious illness this year as more RSV circulates - and it's only a matter of time before the spread moves from children to grandparents, Sinha said.
“We are worried this year that we are going to see a record number of older adults get exposed to RSV,” he said.
Although data on current RSV admissions by age groupis limited, doctors are already starting to see “a growing number” of adults admitted to hospital for RSV, along with influenza and COVID-19, Sinha said.
The Public Health Agency of Canada does not collect age-specific data on RSV hospitalizations, it said in a statement to The Canadian Press.
“RSV and influenza are two infections that have always had a disproportionate impact on the very young and the very old,” said Dawn Bowdish, Canada Research Chair in Aging and Immunity and an immunologist at McMaster University in Hamilton.
That's because a child's first RSV infection tends to make them the sickest and then they have some immunity over the course of their life. But that ability to mount a strong immune response and fight off infection declines among seniors, she said.
On top of that, those 65 years and older tend to have less resilient lungs, she said, so they're “much more vulnerable to lung damage” from respiratory infections like RSV.
Even though there are many young children sick with RSV, they tend to recover, while elderly patients couldbe much harder hit, Sinha said.
“Our big concern right now is that we know the actual burden of disease, annually, tends to be the greatest when it comes to RSV amongst older people. That's where we see the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths occur,” he said.
Families may decide to protect seniors by minimizing contact with vulnerable seniors during this surge in respiratory illnesses, but that won't be realistic when the holidays arrive, Bowdish said.
“(If) you've got an older adult living in long-term care, or a family member who's a little bit socially isolated ... the pull of togetherness is just so strong and so important,” she said. “I would never recommend complete isolation.”
Unlike COVID-19 or the flu, there is currently no vaccine for RSV - making other prevention measures even more important, she said. Those include wearing a mask and not visiting your older loved one if you're feeling unwell.
In a statement on Thursday, Health Canada said it had received a submission from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on Oct. 25 for an RSV vaccine for adults 60 years of age and older.
In addition, Pfizer has notified Health Canada that it is planning to submit two RSV vaccine candidates for consideration: one for seniors and one for pregnant women, the statement said.
“Once a submission is received, as with all vaccine submissions, Health Canada reviews it using an independent process that is based on scientific rigour and medical evidence,” it said.
Both Sinha and Bowdish say a safe and effective RSV vaccine would be an important tool for protecting seniors.
“The preliminary data that I've seen from the various manufacturers is actually quite promising,” Sinha said.
That data appears to show a “pretty good level of efficacy” and an ability to significantly reduce hospitalizations and other severe outcomes from RSV among seniors, he said.
“We're quite hopeful ... that we could potentially have an RSV vaccine approved for older adults as early as next year.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 25, 2022.
This story was produced with financial assistance from the Canadian Medical Association.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”