Scores of St. Albert students have been at home sick in recent weeks as a wave of respiratory diseases sweeps through Edmonton-area schools.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) spokesperson Kristi Bland confirmed in an email Nov. 7 the province had seen an upswing in respiratory disease outbreaks at schools, particularly in the Edmonton Zone, which includes St. Albert.
Thousands of students were reported to be absent from Edmonton schools the previous week due to illness. About 13.18 per cent of Edmonton Public students — nearly 14,000 — were absent due to illness on Nov. 7.
In an email, St. Albert Public spokesperson Paula Power said AHS had declared outbreaks at W.D. Cuts, Muriel Martin, Hillgrove, Joseph M. Demko, E.S. Gish, and Sir Alexander Mackenzie schools as of Nov. 7, meaning at least 10 per cent of students there were absent due to illness. Ronald Harvey, Kinosayo, Leo Nickerson, and Lois E. Hole schools were awaiting AHS confirmation of outbreaks. Some schools were reporting absence rates of 20 per cent.
“Yes, these number are higher than typical,” Power said, with most parents reporting respiratory and some gastrointestinal symptoms in their sick children.
Power said the public board continued to provide masks and sanitization in its schools and asked parents to keep sick kids at home.
Lois E. Hole Elementary teacher Mark Rouault said there had been many kids and teachers absent due to illness at his school in recent weeks, with about 10 of his 27 students sick at home on Nov. 7. This was part of a rising trend of illnesses that seemed to take off just after Halloween (Oct. 31).
“I think last Wednesday (Nov. 2) we had almost 200 kids gone,” he said.
“I don’t ever remember having this many students gone pre-COVID.”
Rouault said parents of absent students had told him their children had generally tested negative for COVID-19 but had symptoms such as a cough or runny nose.
In an email, Greater St. Albert Catholic spokesperson Miranda Baker said two GSACRD schools had respiratory disease outbreaks as of Nov. 4. (GSACRD schools were on break from Nov. 7-11.) Staff would perform extra sanitization on schools during this week’s break in accordance with AHS guidelines.
The Gazette did not hear back from Sturgeon Public regarding absentee rates as of press time.
Why so sick?
Bland said there were 65 schools in the Edmonton Zone on outbreak as of Nov. 4, up from 22 on Oct. 27.
Tehseen Ladha, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta, said this wave of illness appeared to be driven by influenza, COVID, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV, which typically manifests as a cold in older youths and adults but can cause bronchiolitis in babies and toddlers).
Ladha said doctors were reporting respiratory and stomach disease at levels typically seen during January, which was when those diseases usually peaked. Patients were also reporting much more severe infections than normal.
“We’re seeing kids with fevers for five to seven days,” she said, and loads of kids taken to emergency rooms due to fever, cough, or dehydration from diarrhea.
Ladha said one big reason for the current wave was that Alberta had dropped almost all its COVID-19 control measures. Masks and upgraded ventilation stop the transmission of many respiratory viruses, not just COVID, and those viruses have roared back now that we’ve stopped using them. There was also evidence that having COVID weakens your immune system, making you more vulnerable to other viruses. The large amount of COVID in circulation also means our bodies have more disease to combat.
Bland said people should wash their hands frequently with soap and water and cover their coughs and sneezes to prevent disease spread. She encouraged people to get their flu and COVID-19 shots and to stay home if they had a cough, sneeze, sore throat, runny nose, and/or fever.
Ladha said parents should send their kids to schools in masks for the next few months to protect against respiratory disease. She also called on the province to set standards for mandatory indoor masking based on virus and hospitalization levels.
Ladha said researchers predict this wave of illness would peak in about eight weeks.
“We are still on the upswing,” she said, and should expect more hospitalizations and student absences to come.
