Officials have warned that the number of patients hospitalized is expected to ‘rise rapidly’ due to a surge in flu cases and delays in vaccinations

Q: What are doctors seeing on the ground compared to what we’re seeing in the data?

“There’s usually a tipping point where there’s so much spread in the community that it’s affecting people who are more at risk, and you see a large number of people coming into the hospital. So there’s a little bit of a time lag,” Saxinger said.

Official data is always a snapshot of the past, and does not always keep pace with the rapid expansion of flu activity in the community. What’s happening in hospitals right now, Saxinger said, is that more patients are coming in with severe influenza and its complications.

“What I was seeing a lot of last week was secondary infections, like bacterial pneumonia or sepsis on top of influenza,” she said.

The influx of patients this year was fast and furious, and at Saxinger’s hospital in Alberta, he said wards are “full and full,” leading to a shortage of hallway beds and a “harrowing experience” for both patients and staff.

“It was a really sharp increase this year in terms of (cases) from the leading indicators so far… It seemed like it was a very brief time period.”