Number of people reporting flu cases increases sharply
Posted January 2, 2014 9:30 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Alberta isn’t the only province seeing a spike in people coming down with the flu.
The number cases on the Lower Mainland has doubled in the past two weeks.
Dr. Reka Gustafson, Medical Health Officer with Vancouver Coastal Health, says H1N1 is the most common strain going around.
“We’ve looked at the hospitalizations in our regions since boxing day, we’ve had around eight to ten hospitalization, predominantly again, adults in their 40s, 50s and 60s with chronic medical conditions.”
“Better indicators of how much influenza there is in the community, is the number of people who go to their doctor for an influenza like illness, and over the last two weeks that has doubled or so from pervious. Levels were really quite low and now we’re seeing a lot of influenza activity,” adds Gustafson.
Alberta is working hard to get a surge in flu cases under control by opening mass immunization clinics, while in Edmonton, there have been three confirmed deaths related to the illness in Edmonton, and another two in Calgary.
And it’s never too late to get immunized — Gustafson says it’s always a good idea to get a flu shot.
