Flu rates in B.C. are going down: Dr. Bonnie Henry

Cases of the flu in British Columbia continue to decline after an earlier-than-usual peak in late November and early December, according to the province’s top doctor.

Provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, says at the peak of the respiratory illness season late in 2022, influenza cases in all age groups saw a positivity rate of 27 per cent.

“Influenza continues to decline following this very strong, early peak we saw in November and December. RSV has continued to stay high, it’s now at where we’d expected to see this time of year and COVID has remained relatively stable the past several months,” she said in a news conference Friday.

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According to the province, the positivity rate for the flu has declined to five per cent in the first week of January. Rates of RSV are also at five per cent, down from 14 per cent at the peak of the season.

Henry chalks up the “unusual” respiratory season to the pandemic, with COVID restrictions cutting down the number of people who caught the illness.

“Particularly, the restrictions on travel globally, influenza didn’t spread through the first two years of the pandemic. So, there’s people whose immune system haven’t developed that protection that they needed,” she said.

“This has been a very unusual year so it’s very important to recognize that we can’t necessarily compare this year to previous influenza seasons prior to the pandemic.”

To avoid getting sick, Henry recommends British Columbians get their flu shots, saying it can make a difference even if you do get sick.

“Early estimates show that the protection that we have from the vaccine right now reduces your chances of needing to see a physician or a nurse practitioner for influenza, [it] cuts that risk in at least half. So that’s good news,” she said.

The B.C. government says public health officials continue to monitor various data sources, including wastewater analysis to track the prevalence of COVID-19, RSV, and influenza.

While flu cases may be down in comparison to a couple of months ago, the province warns there is usually an increase in cases later in the season.

On the COVID front, Henry says there have been 24 cases of the XBB 1.5 variant, nicknamed the “Kraken,” detected in the province.