In Canada, the national number of hospital admissions associated with influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is usually available about three months after admission. This delay hampers real-time analysis involving hospitalization data, like, for example, epidemic forecasting. Here, using a mixed-effects model on 15 years of data covering about 70% of the Canadian population, we show that these hospitalizations can be approximated using the number of laboratory tests positive for influenza A and RSV, a data stream publicly reported much more rapidly, about two weeks after symptoms onset.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This study did not receive any funding.

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

The Health Canada-Public Health Agency of Canada Research Ethics Board considered this study to be exempt from the requirement for research ethics review pursuant to article 2.2 of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans.

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Yes

The laboratory test data is publicly available on the Public Health Agency of Canada website (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/surveillance/respiratory-virus-detections-canada.html) The hospital admission data can be obtained by sending a request to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).