Respiratory illnesses persist past winter spike at Whanganui Hospital

A continuing presence of respiratory illnesses has been observed by Whanganui Accident and Medical's after-hours care clinic. Photo / Bevan Conley.

Summer may be on the way, but respiratory illnesses are still circulating in Whanganui, with a high number of presentations to the Whanganui Accident and Medical (Wam) after-hours clinic.

Wam clinical health service manager Monique White said through the winter months and into October, around 20 per cent of cases per day were respiratory illnesses, including Covid-19.

White said the period for heightened volume of cases had gone on “longer than expected”, but they were slowly reducing.

In July, cases peaked, with 842 respiratory illnesses presenting throughout the month, and this dropped to 139 cases in October.

Numbers audited through the winter health clinic at the hospital found that the 0-4-year-old age group had the highest presentations for respiratory illnesses for the current winter period.

“A lot of the 0-4 [age group care consists of] reassurance for the parents because they’ve struggled at home with multiple siblings that are sick, so there’s a lot of tired whānau that are needing advice and maybe some basic prescriptions,” White said.

Whanganui Regional Health Network chief executive Judith Macdonald said the volume of respiratory illnesses observed hadn’t been enough to scale up the response at Wam.

“We do know that Covid has definitely got a presence within the community, and it’s ongoing - as a workplace, we’re seeing one person per week off with Covid.”

Compared to previous years in which the spread of Covid within the community was higher, the number of respiratory illnesses was not peaking.

“We haven’t seen any significant peak compared to the previous two years; it’s been fairly expected numbers for a normal winter period,” White said.

There had also been fewer self-presentations to Wam for Covid-19.

White said most people were managing Covid-19 symptoms at home and with their general practitioners.

“There certainly isn’t any fear around it that we’ve noticed here.”

People hadn’t been exposed as often to viral illnesses during the past three years of Covid due to time spent isolating, she said.

“Probably, people with the general cold and flu have found it quite horrible, and the way they’re presenting, some of these people are feeling worse than they have been with Covid.”

White said there could be other factors involved, such as being rundown or personal problems, that would affect the way a patient recovered.

Macdonald said it was common to see people succumb to viruses at this time of year.

“Sometimes it happens at the end of the year when you’re worn out and your defences and immunity aren’t as good.”

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.