Summary

• During Week 38 (September 18–24, 2017), the third week after the start of the school year, emergency department visits increased by 10.5% (12,700 visits) among children under 15 and by 5% (8,500 visits) among adults. Hospitalizations following emergency room visits rose slightly across all age groups (+2.7% for all ages combined).

• Among emergency room visits for seasonal conditions, the following increases stand out: - across all age groups: for isolated fever (+13%, or +364 visits), acute bronchitis (+45%, or +577 visits), and ENT conditions (+27%, or +3,144 visits), - among children: for bronchiolitis in children under 2 years of age (+25%, or +177 visits). In contrast, visits for asthma are down after three consecutive weeks of increases, - among adults: for asthma (+32%, or +359 visits). The proportion of cases involving asthma attacks, bronchiolitis (in children under 2 years of age), and ENT conditions in total activity is higher than in the previous two years across all age groups.

• Among the most common conditions, excluding seasonal illnesses, there has been an increase in visits for burns among children under 2 years of age (+15%, +27 visits). Among adults aged 75 and older, there has been a 17% increase in visits for pneumonia (+215 visits).