Key Points

In Week 04 (January 23–29, 2023), emergency department visits increased among children aged 2 to 14 (+11%, or 6,257 visits) and remained stable in other age groups. Hospitalizations following emergency department visits remained stable across all age groups.

After several weeks of decline, there has been a renewed increase in emergency department visits for influenza/flu-like illness across all age groups (+15%), with a more pronounced rise among those aged 15–74 (+21%, or +274 visits).

Among children, excluding visits for asthma attacks, which declined this week (–11%), most of the most frequent indicators and diagnoses followed the overall increase in activity, ranging from +11% to +16%. There was a more pronounced increase in visits for infectious conjunctivitis (+22%) and COVID-19 (among children under 2 years of age only: +23%, or +12 visits). Visits for bronchiolitis have stabilized at a moderate level.

Among adults aged 15 to 74, most indicators are stable, with the exception of emergency department visits for gastroenteritis (+17%, or +172 visits), which are at levels similar to previous years, and for conjunctivitis (+13%, or +64 visits).

It is noted that the number of visits for asthma attacks and conjunctivitis remains higher than in previous years across all age groups. The same is true for visits for scarlet fever among children.