Montreal pediatric hospitals are surging over capacity and asking parents to avoid the emergency department unless their child is seriously ill or injured.

Dr. Harley Eisman, interim medical director of pediatric emergency services at Montreal Children's Hospital, says the increase in patients is due to seasonal viruses spreading at the same time as walking pneumonia cases. The mild form of pneumonia often presents as a fever, cough or fatigue, but can be more severe in a small subset of cases.

Patients with minor health problems accounted for half of all visits to the emergency room in October at the Children's. For the same period, the average occupancy rate was 140 per cent, according to a release from the hospital.

Anecdotally, Eisman says they're seeing more than 200 patients per day.

"Most of the kids that we're seeing, they are sick. They do have fevers, but they're playing, they're acting as they should, they're hydrating themselves and they're not in big respiratory compromise," he said.

CHU Sainte-Justine, the other pediatric centre in Greater Montreal, says more than 40 per cent of its ER visits last month were also patients with minor issues, and in the last week, that's gone up to 45 per cent.

In October, their emergency department capacity rose to 120 per cent, surging to 142 per cent over the last week.

The hospitals are reassuring parents that no child in need of medical care will be turned away, but to expect to wait up to six hours or longer to see a doctor if the circumstances are not critical. They say mild flu, gastroenteritis and fever symptoms that last the usual three to five days can be treated at home.

"If your child does have a fever, it's not an emergency. And if you can get a [doctor's] appointment, it's OK to wait to the next morning. You don't have to come to the emergency department at 9 p.m.," said Eisman.

He noted that's not to minimize parents' concerns, but to encourage them to seek advice from family doctors, pharmacists, walk-in clinics and the health information line 8-1-1, where nurses are available at all times, before going to the emergency department.

The Montreal pediatric hospitals say parents should take their child to the emergency room if they have trouble breathing, seem usually confused or tired, if they can't retain fluids accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea, or if a baby under three months old has a fever.

Injuries such as head trauma, broken bones, cuts that need stitches, eye injuries and burns that blister also warrant a visit.