WINNIPEG — A top doctor at the children’s hospital in Winnipeg says the facility has seen three times the normal number of children with the seasonal flu so far this month.

Dr. Elisabete Doyle, medical director and section head of pediatric medicine, is to take part in a telephone town hall tonight with parents.

She says the rising number of kids with respiratory viruses is putting a strain on resources.

Doyle says the high number of flu cases comes on top of kids with COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

She says uptake on flu shots among children this year is low — provincial data says it is a little above six per cent.

Doctors Manitoba, which represents some 4,000 physicians and medical students, has warned that hospitals are at risk of being overwhelmed in the near future.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2022

The Canadian Press