Some Winnipeg hospitals are limiting who can visit their pediatric and neonatal wards, in an effort to curb the spread of the flu and respiratory infections.

Only parents will be allowed inside any of the wards at the Children's Hospital, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) announced Friday.

The same restriction applies at the neonatal and intermediate intensive care unit at St. Boniface General Hospital, and at the Health Sciences Centre's women's pavilion.

Dr. Brock Wright, the WRHA's chief medical officer, acknowledged that restricting visitors to those facilities is an unusual move.

"It's something we've done in the past. The last time we did it was in 2009, when there was the H1N1 scare. But it's not something we do very often," Wright told CBC Radio's Up to Speed program.

Officials say the Children's Hospital is trying to manage an outbreak of respiratory infections, as well as one confirmed influenza A case at its intermediary nursery.

The nursery has been closed to new patients as a result. Officials say a temporary 14-bed unit has been set up in another part of the hospital for new admissions.

All of the young patients who have symptoms of respiratory illness and the flu are said to be in stable condition.

Brock said emergency rooms across Winnipeg are dealing with many children and adults suffering from the flu and respiratory infections.

Earlier this month, the WRHA said the Children's Hospital has seen a surge in respiratory infections among infants.

Officials say since December, a high number of young children have been admitted to hospital with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), the leading cause of bronchiolitis — an infection of the small airways in the lungs.

The WRHA says it is posting this sign at the affected sites: