TORONTO - Parents worried about swine flu are crowding emergency rooms at children's hospitals in Ottawa and Toronto, forcing some to shut down other services to cope with crush of new patients coming through their doors, officials said Wednesday.
Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa have both seen patient volumes double over the last few days, a wave that started over the weekend, hospital officials said.
About 320 kids came through CHEO's emergency department both Sunday and Monday, a number that rose to 350 on Tuesday, said hospital spokeswoman Marie Belanger.
"That's a very high volume for us," she said.
Many of the children are showing up with H1N1-like symptoms, and some were admitted to hospital, she said.
On Tuesday, the hospital had nine children with confirmed cases of swine flu -- all of whom are now "on the mend" -- and seven children still waiting for test results, Belanger said.
Three of CHEO's outpatient clinics were cancelled Tuesday so that more staff could be redirected to the emergency department, she said.
"We'll be doing that for the next few weeks, or until the volumes in the ER start to slow down a bit, and reassessing on a regular basis whether we can open up those three clinics," she said.
Other hospitals in Ottawa are taking in children to help reduce the large swell of new patients, she said.
More than 300 patients came through the emergency room at Toronto's Sick Kids hospital over a 24-hour period on Tuesday -- more than double the number of children that usually come in at this time of year, said hospital spokeswoman Suzanne Gold.
The volume of cases is similar to what they see during peak flu season, which usually comes much later in the year, said Dr. Anne Matlow, the hospital's medical director of infection prevention and control.
H1N1 is the main respiratory virus being seen in the ER, but most of the cases are mild and children are being sent home with their parents, she added. The hospital is well-prepared for the influx and hasn't seen the need to bring in more staff to help.
"We're discouraging parents from coming here as a first stop, unless (the children) have chronic medical conditions or are immuno-compromised and particularly if they're under the care of physicians at this hospital," Matlow said.
"Otherwise, they should go to their family doctor. If they're unsure, call Telehealth."
Telehealth Ontario is also experiencing "significant increases" in calls -- sometimes up to 13,000 a day -- which means people are waiting longer than usual to speak to a nurse or receptionist, said a government spokesman.
It takes an average of 18 minutes for a caller to reach someone who is working the phones, and nearly nine minutes to speak to a nurse if they then choose to wait in the queue, said David Jensen of the Ministry of Health.
If a caller chooses not to wait in the queue, it takes an average of 70 minutes to get a call back from a nurse, he said.
However, there were reports Wednesday that it would take up to seven hours to reach a Telehealth nurse.
The influx started in the second week of October. The ministry is trying to cope with the demand by asking staff to work overtime and suspend training, Jensen added.
Toronto health officials also confirmed a minor outbreak of swine flu at Mount Sinai Hospital, which is across the street from Sick Kids. Two staff and one patient had contracted the virus and the outbreak was said to be confined to one ward.
Laura McCann, who was leaving Sick Kids with her two children aged nine months and two years old, said she fears that her kids will die if they contract swine flu. She plans to get vaccinated along with her children and husband.
Her worries intensified when she heard about the H1N1-related death of a 13-year-old boy in Toronto, she said.
"It increased my concerns, absolutely," said McCann. "Especially since apparently he was normally healthy."
Hockey player Evan Frustaglio died Monday after falling sick on the weekend. Another child, Vanetia Warner, a 10-year-old from Cornwall, died Saturday after being ill for several days.
Frustaglio's death and the "media hysteria" have contributed to the panic over swine flu, Matlow suggested.
"Those individual cases touch your heart in a big way and rightly so," she said. "I understand that. But those are not the norm."
The normal course of the infection is no different than the seasonal flu, particularly in kids, Matlow added. If the child's breathing becomes laboured and rapid, if they appear listless and turn a bluish colour, those are signs that it may be more serious.
In the wake of the deaths, Premier Dalton McGuinty urged residents to wait their turn for the swine flu shot and let vulnerable groups like pregnant women and young children go first.
"Let those folks go to the front of the line, get their vaccination," he said.
"We will ensure that there's enough vaccination for everybody who wants one, and we think that we'll be able to open this up to the general population -- my understanding is -- next week."
McGuinty said he's not advocating for pre-teens to be added to the list of high-risk groups because he trusts the advice of public health officials.
Everyone is moving "as quickly as they can" to roll out the vaccine, McGuinty said, adding that he plans to get the shot.
But he may not let TV cameras in when he rolls up his sleeve, he said.
"A lot of people want to give the premier a shot," McGuinty joked.
Toronto health officials are moving up their immunization plans due to the increase of swine flu cases.
Vaccination clinics will be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday for high priority groups, and the general public will be able to get the shot starting Nov. 2, said Dr. David McKeown, Toronto's medical officer of health.
Federal health officials have said that no one will be turned away if they show up at the wrong time, but are urging people to hold off until the most vulnerable groups get the shot.
People across the province are lining up for hours to get the H1N1 shot, said Conservative health critic Christine Elliott.
The government, which has set aside $650 million to deal with the swine flu, must do everything it can to keep those clinics open round the clock, she said. It should also create vaccine clinics in the workplace for people who can't get the shot during the day.
"The H1N1 virus is not keeping nine-to-five hours and neither should we," Elliott said. "No bureaucratic excuse justifies forcing families to unnecessarily wait hours or days before obtaining a potentially life-saving vaccination."
