THE number of children presenting to the Hunter's hospitals has gone up "dramatically", with emergency departments being hit by up to a third more presentations some days.
Hunter New England Health's Dr Paul Craven said winter was "well and truly" here, and with it came a large swathe of respiratory viruses including flu, RSV - which often causes bronchiolitis, as well as COVID-19.
"They all present with similar respiratory symptoms and coughs and colds and some shortness of breath as well," he said. "We have seen some very big days of numbers of people coming through the emergency department where it's up to a third more than we'd normally see at this time of year - a large proportion of those are children, and most of those children end up going back home again."
Dr Craven said those arriving who were so sick they needed immediate care were prioritised. But many people were presenting with more moderate symptoms, which was increasing the pressure on the ED. Some people were calling Health Direct and being directed to the emergency department. Others were finding it difficult to see a GP in a timely manner.
Most common flu-like symptoms could be controlled by normal pain relief, fluids and rest.
"We have known that for a long time, it's just people haven't been sick for a couple of years," he said. "So when they do get sick, they're concerned. GPs are doing it tough as well... Whether it's the GP workforce or the hospital workforce, we have lots of people off sick and so lots of people are working very hard at the moment."
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This week, NSW Health said 695 children aged up to four years old had presented to EDs across NSW with bronchiolitis - with 41 per cent needing to be admitted to hospital. The week prior, more than 1,000 people presented to NSW EDs with flu-like illness, with about 165 people, including very young children, so unwell they were admitted.
In June, four times the number of children were admitted to Sydney's two children's hospitals with influenza than with COVID-19, with around 5 per cent of those needing intensive care.
Hunter New England Health refused to reveal how many children presented to Hunter hospitals with respiratory symptoms in June. But between December 2021 to June 2022, the number of children receiving COVID care at home was 5000.
As Australia surpasses 10,000 deaths from COVID-19, there have been more than 250 in Hunter New England so far this year.
Hospitalisations are expected to rise to similar levels seen in January, only this time, flu and RSV are also circulating.
NSW Health confirmed a new wave of COVID-19 was being driven by the new Omicron variants, BA.4 and BA.5. This wave is expected to peak late July, early August.
Dr Kerry Chant urged people to have their third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, to talk to their doctor about whether they might be eligible for anti-viral medication should they catch the virus, and to wear masks in busy indoor environments.
