{"id":414959,"date":"2026-01-17T08:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T08:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/414959\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T08:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T08:50:12","slug":"flu-cases-hospitalizations-continue-to-fall-after-3-year-peak-over-holiday-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/414959\/","title":{"rendered":"Flu cases, hospitalizations continue to fall after 3-year peak over holiday &#8211; National"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\t\t\t\tBy Nicole Thompson<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Canadian Press\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted January 16, 2026 5:53 pm\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t1 min read\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tDescrease article font size<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tIncrease article font size<\/p>\n<p>Health Canada says respiratory hospitalizations fell from more than 4,300 to about 2,500 in the second week of January, after the <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/tag\/flu-season\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">flu season<\/a> hit a three-year high last month.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/70c8fc80.png\" alt=\"\" style=\"position:absolute;width:1px;height:1px\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The latest national <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/tag\/influenza\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">influenza<\/a> data released Friday accounts for the period of Jan. 4 to Jan. 10 and shows the number of new <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/tag\/flu-cases\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">flu cases<\/a> is on the decline.<\/p>\n<p>People over the age of 65 continue to be the most affected \u2014 an age group vulnerable to complications.<\/p>\n<p>The rough flu season hit early by initially spreading mostly among kids, and it led to the deaths of three children in the Ottawa area.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"170\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/healthiq.jpg\" alt=\"Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tGet weekly health news<\/p>\n<p>Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Alberta hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients, leading to overcrowding and physicians calling on the province to invoke a public health state of emergency.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: '\u2018Peaked\u2019: Alberta\u2019s top doctor weighs in on severe flu season\u00a0'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/THUMBS.00_00_32_07.Still013.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   data-\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:01<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Peaked\u2019: Alberta\u2019s top doctor weighs in on severe flu season\u00a0\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/the-curator\/11605051\/lunar-new-year-best-gifts-and-decor-to-celebrate-the-year-of-the-horse\/\" class=\"c-posts__inner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-posts__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768639812_517_Lunar-Year.png\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\tLunar New Year 2026: Best Gifts and Decor to Celebrate the Year of the Horse\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11616824\/boy-killed-dad-go-to-bed-nintendo-switch\/\" class=\"c-posts__inner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-posts__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-1041936362.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t11-year-old U.S. boy charged with killing father after being told to go to bed\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>There were 8,206 new cases of flu detected the week ending Jan. 10, compared to 14,715 new cases the prior week.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, hospitalizations for respiratory conditions dropped sharply to 2,537 from 4,336 people.<\/p>\n<p>Those hospitalizations also include people hospitalized with COVID-19 and RSV, but rates for those viruses are far lower than that of the flu.<\/p>\n<p>Of those who were tested for respiratory viruses, 3.6 per cent were positive for RSV, 5.5 were positive for COVID-19 and 18.1 per cent were positive for influenza.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s down from a peak of 33 per cent of influenza tests being positive the week of Christmas \u2014 the highest the rate has been over the past three seasons.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore on Health<br \/>\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t&amp;copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Nicole Thompson The Canadian Press Posted January 16, 2026 5:53 pm 1 min read Descrease article 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