COVID-19 was the sixth most common cause of hospitalization in children aged 4 and under in 2021-2022. The number of hospital stays due to COVID-19 in this age group increased sevenfold, from 325 hospitalizations in 2020-2021 to 2,315 in 2021-2022.
Additionally, more than 15,000 children have been hospitalized with acute respiratory infections.
In contrast, among 5- to 17-year-olds, COVID-19 and respiratory disease were not among the top 10 diagnoses requiring a hospital stay.
L’ICIS notes that the rise in hospitalizations due to illnesses of viral origin has coincided with the relaxation of public health measures. Recall that children’s hospitals had a difficult time in the fall of 2022, when their emergency rooms were overflowing due to many sick children.
According to Juliana Wu, director of Ambulatory and Acute Care Information Services at theICISthis jump in hospitalizations is worrying not only for the health of young people, but also for the health system and the health care workers who are already overstretched
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COVID-19 still having a significant impact on adults
In 2021-2022 among adults, COVID-19 was the second leading cause of hospitalization in Canada, behind childbirth. The previous year, it was the seventh main reason. More than 77,000 Canadians were hospitalized in 2021-22 due to COVID-19, compared to nearly 48,000 the previous year.
In six provinces (Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon), COVID-19 was one of the top three causes of hospitalization. Conversely, COVID-19 was not among the top 10 causes of hospitalization in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
In Alberta, COVID-19 led to the hospitalization of 12,099 people, almost as many as in Quebec (13,399 people). In Ontario, there are nearly 32,000 in the past year.
The average length of stay continues to increase for Canadians, from 6.8 days in 2017-2018 to 7.2 days in 2021-2022.
The average length of a COVID-19-related hospitalization was 2.5 days for 0-4 year olds, compared to 9.6 days for 18-64 year olds and 11.2 days for 65+ year olds