PEI Respiratory Illness Summary 2024-2025 Season

	Current Reporting Period (Nov. 24 to Dec. 7, 2024)		Previous Reporting Period (Nov. 10 to 23, 2024)		Cumulative 2024-25 Surveillance Period
	LTC/CC1	Other2	LTC/CC1	Other2	LTC/CC1	Other2
COVID-19	1	0	1	1	17	3
Influenza	0	0	0	0	0	0
RSV	0	0	0	0	0	0
ILI	0	2	0	1	1	3
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mixed Pathogen	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

^{1 LTC = long term care facility; CC = community care facility
2 For example, acute care facilities and correctional facilities
ILI = influenza like illness}
Severe outcome surveillance,current period, previous period, and cumulative in 2023-24

	Current Reporting Period (Nov. 24 to Dec. 7, 2024)	Previous Reporting Period (Nov. 10 to 23, 2024)	Cumulative 2024-25 Surveillance Period
COVID-19
Hospitalizations	2	5	52
ICU	0	0	0
Deaths	0	2	11
INFLUENZA
Hospitalizations	0	0	0
ICU	0	0	0
Deaths	0	0	0
RSV
Hospitalizations	1	1	7
ICU	0	0	0
Deaths	0	0	0

Surveillance for COVID-19 Variants

PEI contributes data to the national reporting of COVID-19 variants in Canada

 

Wastewater Surveillance 

PEI’s Chief Public Health Office and the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action have partnered with the municipalities of Alberton, Charlottetown (including Stratford), Montague, Souris, and Summerside, and the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg to implement wastewater surveillance for COVID-19, influenza and RSV in PEI.
PEI wastewater testing results are included on the national Wastewater monitoring dashboard.
 

Historical COVID-19 Data

Year	Total Cases	Hospitalized	ICU	Deaths
Week 35-2023 to Week 34-2024	1,499	152	12	15
2022	54,179	355	29	81
2021	1,413	5	1	0
2020	96	0	0	0

Historical Influenza Data

Influenza Season	Predominant Strain	Total Cases	Hospitalized	ICU	Deaths
2023-24	A	818	121	18	12
2022-23	A/H3	360	78	7	5
2021-22	A/H3	66	12	1	0
2020-21	-	0	0	0	0
2019-20	A	220	77	7	5
2018-19	A/pH1N1	280	123	12	9
2017-18	B	319	132	13	6
2016-17	A/H3	208	88	11	5
2015-16	A/pH1N1	71	39	2	1
2014-15	A/H3 (B)	209	98	11	9
2013-14	A/pH1N1	119	62	13	2

Historical RSV Data

Year	Total Cases	Hospitalized	ICU	Deaths
2023-24	413	111	3	3

Technical Notes

COVID-19 case count includes individuals who tested positive on lab-based PCR, Abbott ID Now NAAT, and Lucira NAAT.  It does not include individuals that tested positive on a rapid antigen test.

Note that clinical diagnosis of influenza takes place frequently in the community during peak season and is not confirmed with laboratory testing. In contrast to COVID-19, the prescribing of anti-viral treatment for influenza does not require a positive influenza test and can be based on a clinical diagnosis alone. Given the differences in testing approaches, the number of influenza detections and the number of COVID-19 detections in a given time period are not directly comparable.

COVID-19, influenza and RSV case counts are just an indication of greater respiratory illness activity as many individuals with respiratory illness do not seek medical attention.

Test positivity = ^{(Count of positive tests per reporting period)} / ^{(Count of total tests per reporting period)  ×100}

Test positivity for COVID-19 includes lab-based PCR and Abbott ID Now NAAT.  For influenza and RSV, test positivity includes lab-based PCR. Cases among PEI residents diagnosed outside of the province are included in the case counts but are excluded from the percent positivity calculation.

Paxlovid dispenses will only be reported when there’s at least 10 dispenses during the reporting period.

Outbreak definitions
    -Influenza

• Laboratory-confirmed influenza outbreak: two or more cases of influenza like illness (ILI) within a seven-day period with an epidemiological link, including at least one laboratory confirmed case of influenza within a surveillance setting
• ILI outbreak: two or more cases of ILI within a seven-day period
• ILI outbreak in school or workplace: Greater than 10% absenteeism which is likely due to ILI

    -COVID-19 outbreak

• 2 or more test-confirmed cases of COVID-19 which are epidemiologically linked to a specific setting or location

    -RSV

• 2 or more cases of ILI within a seven-day period with an epi link, including at least one laboratory confirmed case of RSV within a surveillance setting

Hospitalization definition: a laboratory confirmed case of influenza/RSV or test-confirmed case of COVID-19 that received treatment in hospital as a result of their respiratory illness

ICU admission definition: a case of influenza, RSV or COVID-19 that meets the hospitalization definition and was admitted to the ICU

Death definition: a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness in a laboratory confirmed influenza/RSV case or test-confirmed COVID-19 case. A death due to influenza/COVID-19/RSV may be attributed when influenza/COVID-19/RSV is the cause of death or is a contributing factor. 

Test-confirmed COVID-19 case: case with a positive result on lab-based PCR, Abbott ID Now NAAT, or Lucira NAAT.  A case with a positive result on a rapid antigen test may be considered to be a test-confirmed case of COVID-19 upon review by a Chief Medical Officer of Health or relevant public health authority.  

Hospitalization data is gathered through infection prevention and control practitioners at each Island hospital.

Hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths are reported based on the date that they are reported to the Chief Public Health Office.

Data presented throughout the report may be updated retroactively as new data becomes available.