Sneezing, fever, chills, vomiting, coughing — it’s not just one virus wreaking havoc this winter; it’s a combination of four major illnesses: influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID 19 and norovirus.
In the United States, some health experts are referring to the simultaneous spread of these four viruses as a “quademic.”
But is the same spread happening in Canada?
“I think we are experiencing something very similar,” said Matthew Miller, the director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
“Our low COVID levels are still as high as many of the other viruses which are, nearing peak. For RSV it looks like we’ve reached that peak already, and for influenza A, cases are still shooting up,” he told Global News.
While cases of these three respiratory illnesses are high in Canada, there’s another virus on the rise as well: norovirus, also known as the stomach bug.
Influenza, RSV and COVID-19 are primarily spread through respiratory droplets, while norovirus is mainly transmitted through contaminated surfaces and is so resilient it can even survive hand sanitizer, Miller said.
And during the colder winter months, as people spend more time indoors in close proximity, the risk of spreading all four viruses increases, creating the perfect conditions for a surge in infections.
“Certainly these months are the usual peak of what we would call respiratory virus season and it happens for a variety of reasons. One is that the weather conditions in the winter favour the viruses’ ability to transmit. So the coldness and the relative lack of humidity help the virus sort of live longer on surfaces and transmit better in the air,” Miller explained.
“In addition, the forced air heating in our houses also tends to dry out our nose and throat, what we call our mucosal membranes. And that wetness and stickiness that lines our nose and throat is actually our first line of defence against bugs. It keeps a protective layer between viruses and our cells.”
When our noses dry out, especially at night while we’re sleeping, it becomes easier for viruses to enter our body, he added.
Here’s a look at the four big viruses circulating in Canada.