Key Points

• In week 47 (November 21–27, 2022), emergency room visits and hospitalizations remained slightly higher among children, particularly those under 2 years of age (+11%, or 3,460 more visits, and +11%, or 616 more hospitalizations), and remained stable among adults.

• In the second week after the start of the school year, visits for winter respiratory illnesses continued to rise across all age groups, but more markedly among children and at higher levels than those observed in previous years: influenza/flu-like illness (+73% among children and +34% among adults), bronchitis (+36% and +9% respectively), asthma (+9% across all ages), and among children specifically for ENT conditions, cough, and pneumonia (+20%, +18%, and +12%, respectively).

• Regarding bronchiolitis in children under 2 years of age, after a week of decline during school break, visits began to rise again for the second consecutive week (+24%, or +1,615 visits). They remain at levels significantly higher than in previous years and account for 48% of hospitalizations following visits for all causes (vs. 46% in S36 and 43% in S35).

• After four weeks of decline, visits for suspected COVID-19 are up for the second consecutive week across all age groups: +28% among children (+68 visits) and +18% among adults (+486 visits).

• Other indicators are stable or declining. The only notable change is a slight increase in visits due to feeling unwell among 2- to 14-year-olds (+12%, or +63 visits).