Ontario Flu Season 2025-26

Commonground · Oct 31, 2025

Ottawa

Health officials brace for a severe flu season, urge people to get vaccinated

October 30, 2025
It is a public health message that goes out every fall, but this year the calls for people to get vaccinated against flu and COVID are more urgent.

Health officials are bracing for a severe flu season and urging residents to get vaccinated against flu, COVID-19 and RSV, if they are eligible. The message comes at a time when many hospitals are already overcrowded.

Dr. Virginia Roth, chief of staff at The Ottawa Hospital, is among those urging people to get vaccinated, especially those at high risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19, flu and RSV. Health officials are concerned because of the severe flu seasons reported in Australia and elsewhere.

“We have been watching it and we are bracing ourselves for a pretty severe flu season,” Roth says.

In addition to people protecting themselves, high vaccination rates help to protect the health system by giving already busy hospitals a break from what could be an extreme surge of patients.

Even before viral season has begun, The Ottawa Hospital is already well over capacity.

“We are facing higher volumes than usual and it is before respiratory season,” Roth says.

The Civic campus of The Ottawa Hospital was at around 110 per cent capacity as of Oct. 30, with the General campus at 106 per cent capacity.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/health-officials-brace-severe-flu-201910264.html

Commonground · Dec 4, 2025

Children’s hospitals seeing more flu cases as earlier season takes a toll
December 4, 2025

Hospitals are seeing more children sick with flu after the virus began circulating earlier than usual this year.

The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario said it saw eight times more kids testing positive for influenza last month than it did in November last year.

A spokesperson for CHEO said the difference is stark — 17 confirmed cases last November compared to 145 cases this November.

CHEO’s flu hospitalizations have doubled, with 12 children admitted last month compared to six the previous November.

Montreal Children’s Hospital pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Jesse Papenburg said a surveillance network covering 15 children’s hospitals across the country shows a rise in emergency department visits for the flu.

continued: https://globalnews.ca/news/11559558/childrens-hospitals-flu-surge/

Commonground · Dec 5, 2025

Children’s hospitals in Canada face flood of flu visits as doctors urge families to get vaccinated

High volumes put strain on limited pediatric hospital capacity, with flu season set to peak later this month
Dec 04, 2025

Excerpt:
The hospital saw “unprecedented” numbers on Monday, with close to 300 young patients coming through the emergency department in a single day, marking a roughly 20 per cent increase from last year, CHEO’s vice-president of acute care services, Karen Macauley, told CBC News.

Those higher volumes are already putting strain on the hospital’s limited capacity and leading staff to rely on overflow spaces for patient care, Macauley said, while public health forecasting suggests the worst is yet to come, with a peak expected later in December.

...https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/pediatric-flu-visits-2025-9.7003201

Commonground · Dec 15, 2025

3 children die from influenza A-related complications in Ottawa and eastern Ontario region

December 15, 2025

Three children have died from flu-related complications in the Ottawa area this month, as officials warn of a “rapid and significant rise” in influenza A cases.

In a statement released Monday morning, Ottawa Public Health said three children between the ages of five and nine have died from influenza A-related complications in the Ottawa and Eastern Ontario Health Unit regions during the first two weeks of December.
-snip-

In a letter to physicians, Etches asked local physicians to work in the CHEO’s Kids Come First Care Clinic.

“These numbers have stretched capacity to the limit, with staff relying on overflow spaces to safely care for young patients,” Etches said in the letter, provided to CTV News Ottawa.

Ottawa’s children’s hospital has reported a “higher-than usual” number of flu cases and complications so far in December.
-snip-
The Public Health Agency of Canada reported last week the influenza percent positivity rate across Canada was 20.2 per cent for the week ending Dec. 6, up from 8.3 per cent two weeks earlier.

... https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/artic...cations-in-ottawa-and-eastern-ontario-region/

Commonground · Dec 15, 2025

3 children died from flu complications this month in Ottawa area: health units

Excerpts:

A weekly surveillance report by the Public Health Agency of Canada says 37 people have died from influenza complications since August.

PHAC's latest respiratory surveillance report says there have been 180 pediatric influenza-associated hospitalizations and 24 intensive care admissions since August.

For the week ending Dec. 6, the influenza test positivity rate was 20 per cent, up from 13 per cent the week before.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 15, 2025.

Commonground · Dec 20, 2025

Key findings for December 7 –13, 2025 (surveillance week 50)

excerpt:

Influenza

Percent positivity was very high (33.8%), and overall activity was higher than the previous week.
- Percent positive remains highest in children (5-11 years) at 73.3% and adolescents (12-19 years) at 67.3%.
- H3N2 was more common than H1N1 this week and season to date. See Influenza Strain Details tab.
- Whole genome sequencing identified subclade K in 82.9% of H3N2 specimens sequenced from November 1-15. For more details, please see the report.
No antiviral-resistant isolates identified in Ontario. See Influenza Strain Details tab.

Hospitalizations: