Most Canadians stricken with influenza - commonly called "the flu" - are suffering quietly at home. But thousands of sick people have headed to their local hospital.

It's created an overcrowding of emergency wards that medical experts say could have been avoided.

In Winnipeg, the Manitoba government has added 30 beds to the health care system.

Quebec is also opening hundreds of beds as soon as possible. Over the Christmas holidays, sick Quebecers had to wait for hours before seeing a doctor. Some hospitals were so busy that doctors refused to accept ambulances. Hospital corridors were packed with extra beds because all available rooms were full.

Many Canadians are calling for provincial governments to make more hospital beds available.

Over the past few years, hospitals cut down the number of beds patients can use because of budget cutbacks. It costs hundreds of dollars per day to treat a patient in a hospital bed.

But cutbacks do not explain all the changes. New medical treatments mean that patients who used to have to sleep in the hospital can now stay at home.

Some health experts believe new beds may not be the answer to overcrowding problems.

"A lot of people think that the obvious solution is simply to add more beds," says Dr. Charlyn Black, who does research with Manitoba's Centre for Health Policy and Evaluation.

Black and her colleagues studied overcrowding patterns for the past decade. They found that in eight of the past 10 years, Manitoba hospitals became overcrowded every flu season.

It always happens at the same time of hear, yet hospitals never have enough space for the flu victims.

Black says nothing works like prevention, and cites Alberta's efforts as a good example for the rest of the country. Alberta gave flu vaccinations to 90 per cent of people in nursing homes, including staff. That may be why Alberta hospitals still have empty beds in its emergency rooms.

Manitoba intensified its flu vaccination program this past fall and the province says the number of beds in hallways has fallen.

But the flu bug is far from beat. Experts say there will be more major flu problems coming in the years to come.

Records show there has been a flu pandemic (people who are sick throughout a whole country or region) - on average - once every 25 years since 1892.

Some scientists say the next one could occur at any time.

Health Canada says the next pandemic would likely start in Asia, and would take about three months to make its way to Canada.

Officials say the solution may be as simple as keeping lots of chickens around to create enough vaccine. Eggs are a main ingredient in flu vaccine.

One pill that promises to reduce flu symptoms is now available in some Canadian pharmacies. The drug called Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) prevents flu A and B viruses from reproducing by blocking a vital enzyme.

1. What has the Manitoba government added to the health care system?