Aug 21, 2026 · 32 min · 10 segments
Dr. Faisal Ali and Dr. Jennifer Tam from the British Columbia Children's Hospital and University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, Dr. Rohit Vijh from the Vancouver Coastal Health Public…
Rohit VijGuestAnya SmithGuest
Jennifer TamGuest
Candice HoffmanHost
Faisal AliGuest
While researchers work to learn more about how snowshoe hare virus spreads among animals and mosquitoes, there's information that healthcare and public health professionals can act on now.
So for clinicians, I think what's really important is within our region, we've had, uh, multiple rounds with infectious disease and medical microbiologists to really kind of consider California serogroup viruses in patients that are presenting with unexplained meningitis and encephalitis during the mosquito season, particularly if they've had exposures within these, um, parts of, of our province.
And that really early consultation with public health and our public health lab colleagues is really important so that the appropriate testing, uh, can be, uh, organized and expedited to help establish that diagnosis, and that, uh, even though these infections are uncommon, they still may be an unrecognized cause of neurological illness in some communities.
And so it's always important to kind of consider it as part of your differential for these meningitis and encephalitises when other more common viral causes, uh, have been ruled out.
What advice do you have for families and children to protect themselves from snowshoe hare virus and other arboviruses?
Families can reduce their risk by using, um, uh, insect repellent approved for children and, and following those label directions, wearing long sleeves and pants when mosquitoes are most active, uh, potentially avoiding or being more cognizant during dusk and dawn periods when mosquito activity is greater, um, using things like window screens, uh, at night to kind of reduce the amount of mosquitoes that might be coming in, and avoiding sort of areas with heavy mosquito activity.
And other things that people can also do is really, uh, be cognizant of reducing standing water near your home.
Clear, drain anything that can hold stagnant water like plant pots that, you know, the mosquito, uh, larvae don't have time to breed in those areas.
And so I would say really what they can do to protect themselves are all the things that we recommend around kind of preventing getting, uh, mosquito bites to begin with.
Most of these infections are thought to be asymptomatic or cause very mild illness, and that severe neurological disease is, is quite uncommon.
But, um, you know, families that might be in these areas and their child sort of develop more severe neurological symptoms, uh, should promptly seek medical attention.
say.At the end of the day, in terms of advice for practical advice for families, children, is that mosquito bites are mostly an annoyance, but in some cases they can transmit these viruses that can sometimes cause severe and serious illness.
And so I think it's important to make sure that we try our best to prevent mosquito bites and reduce their areas of breeding.
But at the end of the day, you know, kids should still be able to enjoy the outdoors in the summer for sure, and go out and play in their backyards and parks.
While researchers work to learn more about how snowshoe hare virus spreads among animals and mosquitoes, there's information that healthcare and public health professionals can act on now.
So for clinicians, I think what's really important is within our region, we've had, uh, multiple rounds with infectious disease and medical microbiologists to really kind of consider California serogroup viruses in patients that are presenting with unexplained meningitis and encephalitis during the mosquito season, particularly if they've had exposures within these, um, parts of, of our province.
And that really early consultation with public health and our public health lab colleagues is really important so that the appropriate testing, uh, can be, uh, organized and expedited to help establish that diagnosis, and that, uh, even though these infections are uncommon, they still may be an unrecognized cause of neurological illness in some communities.
And so it's always important to kind of consider it as part of your differential for these meningitis and encephalitises when other more common viral causes, uh, have been ruled out.
What advice do you have for families and children to protect themselves from snowshoe hare virus and other arboviruses?
Families can reduce their risk by using, um, uh, insect repellent approved for children and, and following those label directions, wearing long sleeves and pants when mosquitoes are most active, uh, potentially avoiding or being more cognizant during dusk and dawn periods when mosquito activity is greater, um, using things like window screens, uh, at night to kind of reduce the amount of mosquitoes that might be coming in, and avoiding sort of areas with heavy mosquito activity.
And other things that people can also do is really, uh, be cognizant of reducing standing water near your home.
Clear, drain anything that can hold stagnant water like plant pots that, you know, the mosquito, uh, larvae don't have time to breed in those areas.
And so I would say really what they can do to protect themselves are all the things that we recommend around kind of preventing getting, uh, mosquito bites to begin with.
Most of these infections are thought to be asymptomatic or cause very mild illness, and that severe neurological disease is, is quite uncommon.
But, um, you know, families that might be in these areas and their child sort of develop more severe neurological symptoms, uh, should promptly seek medical attention.
say.At the end of the day, in terms of advice for practical advice for families, children, is that mosquito bites are mostly an annoyance, but in some cases they can transmit these viruses that can sometimes cause severe and serious illness.
And so I think it's important to make sure that we try our best to prevent mosquito bites and reduce their areas of breeding.
But at the end of the day, you know, kids should still be able to enjoy the outdoors in the summer for sure, and go out and play in their backyards and parks.
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