Summary

In Week 17 (April 23–29), total emergency department visits and hospitalizations following visits for all causes declined among children (down 7%, or 6,652 visits, and down 11%, or 937 hospitalizations, respectively). Among adults:

• visits remained stable among those aged 15–74 and declined slightly among those over 75 (-2%, -1,054 visits),

• hospitalizations following visits were slightly down (-3%, -1,993 hospitalizations).

Among seasonal conditions, there has been an increase in visits for burns among children under 2 years old (+16%, +23 visits) and meningitis among those aged 15–74 (+72%, +13 visits). Among children and young adults, visits for chickenpox are on the rise, with a 46% increase among children under 2 years old (+87 visits), a 36% increase among those aged 2–14 (+137 visits), and a 19% increase among those aged 15–74 (+10 visits). Following an increase observed in week 16 (April 16–22), emergency department visits for allergies, insect bites, and heatstroke are down this week. However, visits across all age groups for allergies and insect bites are higher than in the same period of the previous two years.

Visits across all age groups related to non-specific indicators are down in emergency departments. Nevertheless, there is a moderate increase in visits and hospitalizations for asthma among those over 75 years of age (13% and 27% higher, respectively).

Among the most common conditions, urinary tract infections are slightly up among children under 2 years old (+6%) and those aged 15–74 (+6%). There is also an increase in skin conditions among children under 2 years old (+9%).