Canadian emergency rooms battle holiday spike in flu-like symptoms

Following a year highlighted by Ebola scares and measles outbreaks, it is the common flu that is causing Canadian health officials much consternation.

Significant increases in flu cases have been reported across the country in recent weeks, with many healthcare centres urging the ill to visit overburdened emergency departments only when necessary.

The flu is hitting Canada hard this winter, with heavy doses of the virus being reported across the country.

Flu Watch, a site operated by the Public Health Agency of Canada, notes that the laboratory detection of influenza has increased sharply over the past four weeks ending on Dec. 13 — the most recently published time frame.

Between Dec. 7 and 13, Health Canada reports there were 1,920 positive influenza cases reported across the country. During the same week last year, there were just 340.

Alberta has seen 1,441 cases of flu in the first 50 weeks of 2014, compared to 262 in 2013; Ontario has seen 630 cases compared to 356 the previous year; and Quebec has seen a total of 1,757 over the 2014 reported period, compared to just 104 over the same time in 2013.

There was a significant spike in flu cases during the final two weeks of 2013. And many believe the wave came early this year in part because of the poor matching of the vaccination strain.

Health officials say this year’s vaccination is less effective than they anticipated against the prevalent H3N2 strain, though it still offers some protection, and is effective against other strains of the virus.

The result, it seems, has been a flooding of flu-like cases to health care centres at the worst possible time — over the holidays. With many family doctors shutting their clinics over the Christmas season, and other physicians taking time off work, emergency rooms saw a significant increase in visits.

The Winnipeg Free Press reported that visitors to the city’s emergency departments waited hours — some as long as 14 hours — due to the overrun, with more than 900 patients visiting during the height of the holiday season.

The large number of emergency patients showing flu-like symptoms prompted the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) to urge patients to visit QuickCare Clinics rather than emergency departments.

A WRHA spokesperson told Yahoo Canada News on Friday that much of the emergency-room congestion had dissipated since they extended the hours of those quick clinics, but that some traffic remains.

The Saskatoon Health Region also asked potential patients to “choose wisely” when trying to decide whether to visit an emergency department — which reported being at full capacity.

And Edmonton, which reported the highest rate of flu cases in the country, also saw emergency departments overrun.

It has been no better in Montreal, where pediatric hospitals urged parents to avoid taking sick children to the emergency room during the holiday. The Montreal Gazette reports nearly 600 children were taken to two municipal hospitals within a 24-hour period, many with flu-like symptoms.

Nobody is saying those who are concerned for their health shouldn’t go to the hospital. But in most cases involving otherwise healthy people, flu viruses can run through the system in a matter of days with little long-term concern.

So consider that when deciding whether to stay in bed or make your way down to an ER’s waiting room. It could be a long wait.