This year’s flu is spreading rapidly. How are hospitals trying to deal with the rising cases?

Flu cases are rising across Canada and could push hospitals to their limits over the holidays and into the new year, leading health officials across the country to warn people not to go to emergency rooms unless absolutely necessary.

The situation is so serious that some hospitals are taking extra precautions to prevent strain on the system and transmission of flu within their facilities.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) indicated a significant week-over-week increase in its most recent report released on December 19. Increase in the number of hospitalizationsInfluenza-related admissions are highest among people over the age of 65 and children under the age of four.

However, health officials have said it is not entirely unusual to see an increase in influenza cases this time of year early onset flu season and is currently being observed in some provinces 20 percent of eligible people are getting vaccinated This has likely contributed to the rapid increase and, as a result, greater pressure on hospitals.

“It’s too early to know what this season is going to be like,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital. “But I think when we’re looking at the data backwards, flu-related hospitalizations will likely be higher this year than in a regular flu season.”

Hospitals are planning for increasing cases

Doctors, epidemiologists and other health officials have warned that strain of flu The hit to Canada is more severe.

Emmeline Edgett, a musical theater student at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, said she felt “terrible” when she came down with the flu about two weeks ago.

She told CBC News her symptoms began with nausea, then rapidly escalated to fever and chills, as well as head and body aches.

“Just standing was painful,” he said.

In this particular season, a subtype of influenza A, H3N2, is dominating, which is responsible for almost all positive cases According to PHAC, the incidence of influenza in Canada is currently 99.4 percent.

Otherwise healthy adults are being admitted to ERs, some of whom even need intensive care, says Dr. Raghu Venugopal, an emergency physician in Toronto, who noted that every ER across the country is “working like gangbusters.”

“I think most Canadians know that we don’t have strong bed capacity in provinces like Ontario, but really across the country,” he said.

Venugopal says people should do what he has done since he had the flu just a week ago: Stay home and rest until you recover.

He says people should go to the ER only if they really need primary care, not just to confirm whether they have the flu.

Health officials across the country are urging people to do so.

“We need the public’s help by choosing the right care options for their needs,” Margaret Melanson, CEO of Horizon Health, New Brunswick’s English-language health authority, said last week.

Melanson says there are always “unforeseen circumstances” that require an ER visit, but she suggested using walk-in clinics, pharmacies or eVisitNB, where a nurse practitioner can assess non-urgent needs online.

horizon health new Brunswickas well as Newfoundland and LabradorHealth authorities had already revived mask mandates for people working and visiting hospitals and other care facilities earlier this fall to limit the spread of flu and other respiratory illnesses.

Extra beds, more time for doctors

in alberta, Doctors have said that the number of people admitted to hospital has increased. Patients have to be treated in waiting rooms and hallways.

Latest provincial data shows are 360pPeople are in hospital, 30 in the ICU — a significant jump from last week, when Alberta hospitals were treating 216 flu patients, and 18 were in intensive care.

Hospitals and Surgical Health Services Minister Matt Jones said the province has opened additional temporary beds to maximize space and patient flow said at a press conference On Friday.

He also said the province is expanding its capacity to provide virtual health services to help ease the burden.

But in other parts of Canada, the need far exceeds hospital space.

of ottawa Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Already, family doctors and pediatricians have had to consider working long hours and responding to urgent calls.

“If your clinic has more opportunities to prioritize after-hours and urgent appointments for children with respiratory symptoms, that will continue to support demand,” President and CEO Dr. Vera Etches said in a letter to physicians Dec. 12.

Public health officials in Quebec have also noted that the flu is particularly spreading among children aged five to 17, and often, parents go to the emergency room, many of which are brimming withInstead of consulting a doctor or letting the child rest at home.

Dr. Antonio D’Angelo, medical director of the department of emergency pediatrics at the University of Montreal’s Sainte-Justine Hospital, said radio-canada He recommends going to the emergency room only if a baby under three months of age has a fever, or is dehydrated or having respiratory distress.

But D’Angelo worries that this could be a particularly difficult situation over Christmas and Boxing Day “when there will be fewer people available in the network to care for all these patients.”

Other diseases of concern

Influenza isn’t the only illness people can contract when they go to crowded ERs.

Doctors across the country are also dealing with COVID-19 and RSV, although each is affecting different populations.

positive laboratory results for COVID-19 According to the latest data from PHAC, it is highest among people over the age of 65, but prevalence is low or moderate in most parts of the country – except New Brunswick.

rsv It is also affecting senior citizens in greater numbers, but most confirmed cases are in children one year old and younger.

But there are also concerns about the spread of infections like measles. For example, in Quebec there were eight cases registered In the province till Sunday.

D’Angelo says the numbers are expected to increase, reiterating the need for fewer people to wait for treatment.

“If there’s a measles case in the waiting room waiting to be tested, they could infect other people,” he said. “Therefore, it is important that we can triage safely and quickly.”