Tough flu season may be peaking

By public health measurements, the 2025-2026 flu season has been a challenging one for health care practitioners and their patients.

This year’s flu strain has been especially virulent, impacting children and the elderly in numbers not seen in at least three years. Officials at Lakelands Public Health, the health unit responsible for Kawartha Lakes, hopes that the number of reported illnesses is peaking post-holidays and that cases of influenza requiring doctor intervention and hospitalization will decrease into 2026.

Dr. Natalie Bocking, deputy medical officer of health for Lakelands Public Health, says this year’s flu strain has been identified as Influenza A, H3N2. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports this strain typically begins with severe and rapid onset symptoms, including high fever, profound fatigue, shaking chills, body aches and a cough. WHO has also recorded that significant gastrointestinal symptoms including vomiting and diarrhea are commonplace. Of particular concern to the world health body are elevated risks of pneumonia, respiratory distress and cardiac issues among the elderly.

When asked for insights on the flu season so far, Gillian Pacey, infectious diseases manager, did not downplay the seriousness of this year’s strain, or the impact it is having on local healthcare providers.

We are “seeing a higher level of activity than we have seen in several years,” Pacey said. “This is demonstrated by very high-test positivity rates and high rates of emergency department visits and hospital admissions across the province, particularly among children.”

As of Jan. 3, 784 cases of influenza had been reported within the Lakelands Public Health region. This is about six times the number of cases for the same period for the 2024-2025 respiratory season, according to Pacey.

When asked what the region should expect moving forward this year, Pacey hopes the worst is behind us.

“Based on typical patterns and data that we have, we expect we are in the peak of the flu season. Hopefully we will start to see the number of cases, outbreaks and hospitalizations declining over the coming weeks.”

Pacey said that this influenza season has been a challenging one for the health unit and the doctors it supports because “many more people” have been seeking care in emergency departments for respiratory illnesses.

Both Pacey and Bocking suggest a number of steps that people could take to lessen their chances of becoming seriously ill from this year’s flu variant.

“Getting vaccinated, staying home when you are sick and washing your hands are all small actions that can prevent you or someone close to you from getting sick,” Pacey said. “When we prevent people from getting sick, we can reduce the burden on our health care system.”

Bocking reinforced the messaging on vaccinations, despite this year’s strain being slightly different from the vaccines being offered by public health.

“Every year the influenza strains that circulate are slightly different, and more than one strain circulates throughout the respiratory season,” Bocking said. “This year, the strain causing the most illnesses is slightly different from the strains included in the vaccine.”

However, data from other countries shows that the vaccine is good protection against the strain for severe illness, she added.

“The flu vaccine continues to be highly recommended especially for children, older adults and people with medical conditions that put them at a higher risk of developing severe illnesses.”