It’s an annual misery. The deluge of sick, feverish kids arriving at ERs across Toronto. Only this year, influenza season has come earlier — and it’s nastier.

Children are flooding Toronto hospitals, pediatricians across the city are concerned about crowded emergency departments and experts say this is all likely being driven by a mutated form of the virus.

Dr. Kim Zhou, chief of pediatrics at North York General hospital, is pointing the finger at H3N2, a new mutated strain of Influenza A , as a possible cause. The strain tends to cause more severe infections and has been called a possible “mismatch” for this year’s flu vaccine, though doctors say it would still provide protection against the mutation.

Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 4, North York General said there were 652 emergency departm

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