Flu activity surges across Alberta as hospitals prepare for heavy season

November 24, 2025

RED FM News Desk

Influenza cases are rising sharply in Alberta, pushing hospitals to brace for a potentially intense winter. The province’s flu positivity rate has jumped to 11.5 per cent in the second week of November—more than triple the 3.4 per cent recorded just two weeks earlier.

“It’s a pretty solid upswing. The season has started,” said Dr. Lynora Saxinger, infectious diseases specialist at the University of Alberta Hospital. She noted that hospital admissions are climbing, with Calgary typically experiencing an earlier surge.

So far this season, influenza has led to 251 hospitalizations, including 158 in the Calgary zone alone. Seventeen Albertans have required ICU care, and six deaths have been reported.

As of Nov. 15, 74 people were hospitalized due to influenza—nearly triple the number from two weeks prior. The Alberta Children’s Hospital emergency department is also seeing a marked increase in young patients, according to Dr. Stephen Freedman, professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at the University of Calgary.

Health officials are urging vigilance as the province enters what could be a challenging flu season.