Key Points

• In Week 51 (December 18–24, 2023), emergency room visits and hospitalizations following emergency room visits were down among children (-8%, or 8,363 fewer cases) and stable among adults.

• Most seasonal respiratory indicators are stable or declining. However, there were some notable increases, such as a marked rise in visits for influenza/flu-like illness across all age groups (+56% among children and +29% among adults, or +557 and +481 visits, respectively) and a more moderate increase for ENT conditions among adults (+5%, or +209 visits). Among the decreases, we note those in visits for pneumonia among children, for the second consecutive week, though they remain at a level much higher than in previous years, as well as for bronchiolitis among children under 2 years of age for the third consecutive week.

• Among other indicators, as in S49 and S50, there was an increase in visits related to digestive conditions: among adults for gastroenteritis (+15%) and among children aged 2–14 and adults aged 75 and older for vomiting (+5%). Notably, there was an increase in visits for conjunctivitis across all age groups (+19%).