Hospitals are seeing more children sick with flu after the virus began circulating earlier than usual this year.

The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario said it saw eight times more kids testing positive for influenza last month than it did in November last year.

A spokesperson for CHEO said the difference is stark — 17 confirmed cases last November compared to 145 cases this November.

CHEO’s flu hospitalizations have doubled, with 12 children admitted last month compared to six the previous November.

Montreal Children’s Hospital pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Jesse Papenburg said a surveillance network covering 15 children’s hospitals across the country shows a rise in emergency department visits for the flu.

Doctors are urging people to get their flu shot now, noting

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