Summary

In Week 21 (May 21–27), emergency room visits for all causes rose slightly among children under 15 (+6%, +5,500 visits) and remained stable among adults. There was a slight increase in hospitalizations for children under 2 (+7%, +188 hospitalizations).

Emergency room visits are on the rise for most seasonal conditions. Across all age groups, there was an increase in visits for insect bites (+66%, +586 visits), burns (+24%, +304 visits), and hyperthermia and heatstroke (+127%, +55 visits). We also note an increase in visits for allergies among children under 15 years of age (+20%, +161 visits) and adults aged 15–74 (+17%, +240 visits), as well as for conjunctivitis among children aged 2–14 only (+68%, +220 visits). Finally, there was an increase in visits for chickenpox among adults (+37%, +22 visits). With the exception of visits for measles, activity related to seasonal illnesses is comparable to that of the past two years.

Among non-specific indicators, there was an increase in visits for asthma and isolated fever among children (+40%, or +533 visits, and +15%, or +358 visits, respectively) and adults aged 15–74 (+35%, or +315 visits, and +8%, or +67 visits, respectively).

Among the most common conditions, there was an increase in visits for ENT conditions among children (+21%, or +1,178 visits) and, more specifically, for urinary tract infections and skin problems among children under 2 years of age (+14%, or +36 visits, and +17%, or +35 visits, respectively).