Key Points

In Week 04 (January 19–25, 2026), the number of emergency department visits and hospitalizations following a visit remained stable across all age groups, with the exception of a slight increase in the number of visits among children under 2 years of age (+5%, or +1,263 visits) and a slight decrease in hospitalizations following a visit among those aged 75 and older (-5%, or -1,684 hospitalizations).

Respiratory indicators, which were stable or declining among adults, continued to rise among children, while remaining comparable to values from previous years. There was thus an increase in emergency department visits for:

• ENT conditions among children under 2 years of age (+7%, or +253 visits);

• acute bronchitis (+21%, or +63 visits) and pneumonia (+12%, or +58 visits) among children under 15;

• asthma attacks in children under 15 years of age (+18%, or +396 visits);

• bronchiolitis in children under 1 year of age (+12%, or +159 visits).

Visits for COVID-19/suspected COVID-19 increased slightly among children under 15 (+50%, or 67 more visits), while visits for influenza/flu-like illness decreased across all age groups (-17%, or 1,936 fewer visits).

Among children, there was also an increase in visits for:

• gastroenteritis (+13%, or +187 visits) and dehydration (+60%, or +24 visits) among children under 2 years of age;

• abdominal pain in children under 15 years of age (+11%, or +203 visits);

• malaise among children under 15 (+13%, or +108 visits).

Finally, the number of visits for conjunctivitis was up among children (+18%, or 61 more visits) and adults (+15%, or 53 more visits).