Higher number of kids sick with the flu at Stollery Children's Hospital

The flu is an early unwelcome guest, picking up speed and severity in Alberta, as admissions of kids with the flu are stacking up at the Stollery Children’s Hospital.

While the national percentage of positivity across Canada is 3.7 per cent, Alberta’s percentage of  positivity crossed the six per cent epidemic line two weeks ago.

In 2025, national positivity crossed the threshold over a month later, in week 46 (Nov. 21).

Dr. Shazma Mithani, an ER doctor at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the Stollery Children’s Hospital, said the emergency departments are seeing the flu in all ages now.

“Not only are there kids coming into the Stollery requiring emergency treatment that can be discharged home, but also requiring admission to hospital in more severe cases,” she said.

While there’s good news, this year’s flu vaccination seems to be a particularly effective match to beat the virus, the majority of Albertans have a dismal track record.

Province-wide vaccination rates were nowhere near the 80-85 per cent herd immunity rate that can protect vulnerable individuals.

Mithani described Alberta’s vaccination rate as “poor.”

“We expect that the vaccine is a really good match this year, based on data from the southern hemisphere. I encourage everybody to get vaccinated. That is so important,” she said.

The Stollery is the children’s hospital for Northern Alberta and parts of the Northwest Territories and B.C.

At admission, kids receive a respiratory swab to see which viruses they may be infected with — flu, COVID, RSV.

Some may even have more than one.

All are earmarked for control isolation precautions, based on their illness, Mithani said.

“There are lots of young pediatric patients who have other complex medical conditions that put them in higher risk of influenza.”

Getting a flu vaccine isn’t just about protecting yourself from illness, Mithani said.

“We know that the more parts of the higher proportion of the community that gets vaccinated for any disease, the closer we get to herd immunity, which means that you’re at this critical threshold, typically between 80 and 85 per cent, depending on what virus it is. The community is protected by virtue of enough people having their immunization.”

Other than extreme youth or age, conditions that make someone more susceptible to severe flu include diabetes, lung diseases like COPD or asthma, or being immunocompromised by illness, chemotherapy or a medication.

Many fail to grasp how severe influenza is, Mithani said.

People will often say they have the flu when they may just have a common cold virus.

True influenza can be lab-verified. It knocks you off your feet and is a severe respiratory illness.

“Nobody wants to be that sick and away from work and their family and the things that they love to do, but it’s also a selfless choice in that it protects the more vulnerable people around you that might be at risk of getting even more severe disease and requiring hospitalization,” Mithani said.

So how early is Alberta’s early season?

“The first severe case of (lab-verified) influenza A that I needed to get admitted to (the Royal Alex) was in early September. They would have contracted it in August, and they were so sick that they required admission to hospital in early September,” Mithani said.

The individual with that first severe case was an otherwise healthy person, she said.

The signs are stacking up at the Stollery, she said.

“We’re certainly starting to see patients require admission to hospital,” she said.

“We expect that with those Health Canada numbers showing the potential for a pretty rough season, we have ongoing concerns that capacity will be an issue during this fall and winter,” Mithani said.

Even a child with vulnerable medical conditions still can typically benefit from the flu vaccine, she said.

“Having medical comorbidities as a child is not a contraindication to getting an influenza vaccine,” she said.

“Anyone over the age of six months old is eligible to get the influenza vaccine and should get it. It is recommended by the National Advisory Council on Immunization.”

In addition to vaccination, other preventative measures include stay home if you’re sick, mask when you’re sick, mask when you’re out, especially if you’re immune-compromises, and wash your hands.

The numbers are nothing to sneeze at.

Influenza is one of the country’s 10 leading causes of death, causing 15,000 hospitalizations and 3,500 deaths annually.

Alberta’s dry, cool climate may contribute to its ranking as the earliest flu starter in the country.

In the 2025-2026 respiratory season, there were more than 20,000 lab-confirmed flu cases in Alberta alone.

As of Oct. 10, one Albertan has died from lab-verified flu this season.

Between Sept. 27 and Oct. 3, there were 21 flu cases in the hospital, and two cases in the ICU.

There were 194 lab-confirmed influenza cases in that week alone.