BCCDC launches new platform for data on respiratory diseases

As the province begins to administer flu shots, the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) has launched a new platform for respiratory disease data.

The integrated platform will combine its “surveillance reporting” on influenza, COVID-19, RSV, and other respiratory pathogens throughout the respiratory season.

The program’s COVID-19 weekly report, situation report, dashboard and wastewater data are now available on the new BCCDC web page, as is lab testing data for other pathogens, along with visits to primary care and other community health services linked to respiratory illnesses.

“Integrated surveillance will better guide B.C.’s understanding of the burden of respiratory illness and its outcomes,” the BCCDC wrote in a Thursday news release.

“More data, including visits to acute care settings, outbreaks in health care facilities … and testing for antibodies in blood samples, will be added to the surveillance platform over the coming weeks and months.”

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According to an epidemiology summary, respiratory illnesses are beginning to increase in B.C. Their rate of increase is quicker than COVID-19, the BCCDC’s Thursday report notes.

Nevertheless, SARS-CoV-2 remains the predominant virus detected by tests in the province, although more tests for the virus are performed than for other viruses.

There were 697 new cases of COVID-19 in the last reporting week — Oct. 2 to Oct. 8 — along with 181 new hospital admissions and 36 critical care admissions.

The BCCDC’s weekly COVID-19 numbers are limited by testing capacity, and the figures are expected to increase as more information becomes available.