{"id":100399,"date":"2025-12-17T08:30:44","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T13:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=100399"},"modified":"2025-12-17T08:31:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T13:31:48","slug":"when-to-treat-sick-kids-at-home-and-avoid-gatherings-as-hospitals-hit-with-flu-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/17\/when-to-treat-sick-kids-at-home-and-avoid-gatherings-as-hospitals-hit-with-flu-surge\/","title":{"rendered":"When to treat sick kids at home and avoid gatherings as hospitals hit with flu surge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Hannah Alberga Health providers are asking parents to treat kids with mild flu symptoms at home and avoid large gatherings as influenza cases spike ahead of the holidays, pushing hospital emergency departments over capacity. The daily number of confirmed flu patients was up by 150 per cent in Ontario last week, with an 84 per cent increase in hospital admissions. Cases are up nationally as well, but the province has been hit especially hard, with three children dying in the last two weeks of influenza complications. Anthony Dale, president and chief executive officer of the Ontario Hospital Association, says Influenza A positivity is now higher than any of the last three seasons, with increases across all age groups. He said the increase of hospital admissions over the last couple&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F12%2F17%2Fwhen-to-treat-sick-kids-at-home-and-avoid-gatherings-as-hospitals-hit-with-flu-surge%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Hannah Alberga Health providers are asking parents to treat kids with mild flu symptoms at home and avoid large gatherings as influenza cases spike ahead of the holidays, pushing hospital emergency departments over capacity. The daily number of confirmed flu patients was up by 150 per cent in Ontario last week, with an 84 per cent increase in hospital admissions. Cases are up nationally as well, but the province has been hit especially hard, with three children dying in the last two weeks of influenza complications. Anthony Dale, president and chief executive officer of the Ontario Hospital Association, says Influenza A positivity is now higher than any of the last three seasons, with increases across all age groups. He said the increase of hospital admissions over the last couple... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F12%2F17%2Fwhen-to-treat-sick-kids-at-home-and-avoid-gatherings-as-hospitals-hit-with-flu-surge%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>When to treat sick kids at home and avoid gatherings as hospitals hit with flu surge - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/17\/when-to-treat-sick-kids-at-home-and-avoid-gatherings-as-hospitals-hit-with-flu-surge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When to treat sick kids at home and avoid gatherings as hospitals hit with flu surge - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Hannah Alberga Health providers are asking parents to treat kids with mild flu symptoms at home and avoid large gatherings as influenza cases spike ahead of the holidays, pushing hospital emergency departments over capacity. The daily number of confirmed flu patients was up by 150 per cent in Ontario last week, with an 84 per cent increase in hospital admissions. Cases are up nationally as well, but the province has been hit especially hard, with three children dying in the last two weeks of influenza complications. Anthony Dale, president and chief executive officer of the Ontario Hospital Association, says Influenza A positivity is now higher than any of the last three seasons, with increases across all age groups. He said the increase of hospital admissions over the last couple\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/17\/when-to-treat-sick-kids-at-home-and-avoid-gatherings-as-hospitals-hit-with-flu-surge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-17T13:30:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-17T13:31:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/17\\\/when-to-treat-sick-kids-at-home-and-avoid-gatherings-as-hospitals-hit-with-flu-surge\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/17\\\/when-to-treat-sick-kids-at-home-and-avoid-gatherings-as-hospitals-hit-with-flu-surge\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"When to treat sick kids at home and avoid gatherings as hospitals hit with flu surge\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-17T13:30:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-17T13:31:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/17\\\/when-to-treat-sick-kids-at-home-and-avoid-gatherings-as-hospitals-hit-with-flu-surge\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1276,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/17\\\/when-to-treat-sick-kids-at-home-and-avoid-gatherings-as-hospitals-hit-with-flu-surge\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/17\\\/when-to-treat-sick-kids-at-home-and-avoid-gatherings-as-hospitals-hit-with-flu-surge\\\/\",\"name\":\"When to treat sick kids at home and avoid gatherings as hospitals hit with flu surge - 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