Canadian respiratory virus surveillance report: Respiratory syncytial virus

Weekly overview of key trends in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity in Canada.

  • Last updated: 2024-11-01

Update schedule: Data in this report are updated every Friday. This page was last updated on September 27th, 2024, 10am ET, with data up to and including ... (surveillance week ...).

Highlights  for the week ending (week )

Laboratory-confirmed detections

Figure 1: Number of reported RSV detections and percentage of tests positive in Canada by report week

Figure 1: Text description

Figure 2: Number of positive RSV detections in Canada by age group and report week

Figure 2: Text description

Figure 3: Proportion of reported RSV detections in Canada by age group

Figure 3: Text description
RSV laboratory-confirmed detections: Data notes

Laboratory-confirmed RSV detections

  • Data are collected through the Respiratory Virus Detection Surveillance System (RVDSS). RVDSS is a long-standing laboratory surveillance system consisting of provincial, territorial, and regional public health laboratories and some hospital laboratories. There are reporting laboratories in all provinces and territories, but not all respiratory virus testing in Canada is captured through RVDSS. Laboratories report data for up to 8 respiratory viruses:
    • SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19)
    • Influenza (commonly referred to as the flu)
    • Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
    • Human parainfluenza virus
    • Adenovirus
    • Human metapneumovirus
    • Enterovirus/rhinovirus
    • Human coronavirus 229E/OC43/NL63/HKU1 (does not include SARS-CoV-2)
  • Laboratories perform molecular testing for these viruses and report the number of tests and positive detections for each virus each week throughout the year.
  • There are reporting laboratories in all provinces and territories, but not all respiratory virus testing in Canada is captured through RVDSS.
  • Most tests are conducted on:
    • acute respiratory infection cases at emergency departments
    • hospitalized severe acute respiratory virus infection cases
    • outbreak cases
  • Outpatient cases with symptoms of respiratory virus infection may be targeted, but testing is typically limited to people at higher risk.
  • Respiratory virus trend assessments (increasing/decreasing/stable) are currently based on PHAC subject matter expert interpretation of week-to-week changes in respiratory virus laboratory detections and percent positivity. Set thresholds for trend assessment are under development.
  • Testing for RSV and other respiratory viruses has been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes in laboratory testing practices may affect the comparability of data to previous seasons.

Laboratory indicators

  1. Number of detections by week for RSV (National)
  2. Number of tests performed by week for RSV (National)
  3. Percentage of laboratory tests positive by week for RSV (National)

Case-level laboratory-confirmed RSV detections

  • Participating provinces and territories provide the age and sex of RSV detections to monitor the impact of RSV in different age-groups.
  • Not all provinces and territories provide case-level laboratory data for RSV.
    • 9/13 PTs, representing approximately 84% of the population in Canada, provide case-level laboratory data for RSV.
    • Sentinel hospital sites do not provide case-level laboratory data for influenza.
  • The number of participating PTs may increase over the course of the season.
  • Sentinel hospital sites do not provide case-level laboratory data for RSV.
  • Case-level data represents a portion of laboratory-confirmed detections for RSV.

Case-level laboratory-confirmed detections indicators

  1. Number of laboratory-confirmed cases of RSV by age-group (National)
  2. Proportion of laboratory-confirmed cases of RSV by age-group (National)

Syndromic

Figure 4: Percentage of FluWatchers reporting cough and fever in Canada, season 2024-2025, compared to previous seasons

Figure 4: Text description

Figure 5: Percentage of tests positive for COVID-19, influenza, and RSV compared to the percentage of FluWatchers reporting cough and fever in Canada, 2023-2024 season

Figure 5: Text description

Outbreaks

Figure 6: Number of laboratory-confirmed outbreaks associated with RSV in Canada by setting and report week

Figure 6: Text description

Figure 7: Cumulative proportion of laboratory-confirmed outbreaks of RSV by setting in Canada in the 2024-2025 season

Figure 7: Text description
RSV outbreaks section: Data notes

Laboratory-confirmed RSV outbreaks

Outbreaks of laboratory-confirmed RSV in high-risk settings (long-term care facilities, acute care facilities, retirement facilities, remote and/or isolated communities, and other settings) are reported from provincial and territorial public health departments. The distribution of outbreaks by setting provides a timely, sensitive measure of early RSV activity that is scalable from a local to national level. It provides evidence of the burden of RSV within various closed settings and at-risk populations.

  • Not all provinces and territories provide outbreak data.
    • 10/13 PTs, representing approximately 83% of the population in Canada, provide outbreaks data for RSV.
    • Note: the number of participating PTs may fluctuate over the course of the season.
  • Outbreak definitions and facility types may not be uniformly applied across all regions/PTs but serve as a rough operational definition across jurisdictions in Canada.
  • Not all PTs conduct surveillance in all facility types.
  • Not all jurisdictions within a PT report outbreaks.
  • Due to data collection practices in some PTs, some outbreaks cannot be confirmed to be due to RSV; thus, the terms “associated with” or “detected” are used when reporting outbreaks nationally.

Indicator

  1. Number of laboratory-confirmed RSV outbreaks

Definitions

Setting Setting definition Outbreak definition
Long-term care facilities Facilities that provide living accommodation for people who require on-site delivery of 24 hour, 7 days a week supervised care, including professional health services, personal care and services such as meals, laundry and housekeeping or other residential care facilities. Provincial/territorial public health is responsible for outbreak management under provincial legislation for these facilities. 2 or more cases of ILI within 7 days, and at least 1 laboratory-confirmed case of RSV in the same setting (on the same floor, or in the same unity or ward).
Acute care facilities Publicly funded facilities providing medical and/or surgical treatment and acute nursing care for sick or injured people, through inpatient services. (i.e. hospitals including inpatient rehabilitation and mental facilities). Unusual or unexpected number of ILI cases within 7 days and at least 1 laboratory-confirmed case of RSV.
Retirement facilities A residential complex, or part of a residential complex that is: occupied primarily by persons who are 65 years of age or older, occupied by at least six persons not related to the operator, AND where the operator makes at least two care services available to residents. The residential complex provides accommodation, meals, housekeeping, linen and recreational services for residents that are able to move independently or with the assistance of one other person. Residents are medically and physically stable, who may be living with physical disability, mental health diagnoses, or mild dementia. Example facilities:
  • retirement homes
  • retirement residences
  • senior living facilities
  • designated supported living facilities (occupied primarily by persons who are 65 years of age or older)
 2 or more cases of ILI within 7 days, and at least 1 laboratory-confirmed case of RSV.
Note: Specific to setting as determined by reporting province.
Remote and/or isolated communities A community that is physically and/or socially separated from the surrounding population. For example, communities that are geographically isolated due to limited transportation links. 2 or more cases of ILI within 7 days, and at least 1 laboratory-confirmed case of RSV in the same setting (on the same floor, or in the same unity or ward).
Other Any other locations/facilities not previously identified in which an outbreak of the influenza, RSV, COVID-19 or ILI occurs. Example facilities:
  • assisted living or hospice settings
  • private hospitals/clinics
  • correctional facilities
  • colleges/universities
  • schools/daycares
  • adult education centres
  • shelters
  • group homes
  • workplaces
  • supported living facilities/supportive housing/assisted living facilities for individuals with disabilities
  • group homes
  • residential treatment centres
 Unusual or unexpected number of ILI cases within 7 days and at least 1 laboratory-confirmed case of influenza.

Severe outcomes

You might also be interested in

COVID-19 wastewater surveillance dashboard

Trend data about the levels of COVID-19 in the wastewater.

COVID-19 vaccination

Number of COVID-19 vaccine doses that have been administed in Canada.

All Health Infobase data products

Did you find what you were looking for?

What was wrong?

(Don’t include any personal information. Note that you will not receive a reply.)
Maximum 300 characters

Thank you for your feedback

Date modified: