Nova Scotia sees big spike in flu cases, doctor refers to it as ‘epidemic’ | 24CA News

The head of Infectious Diseases on the IWK Health Centre says Nova Scotia is experiencing an influenza epidemic because the province sees a major spike in instances.

Dr. Joanne Langley stated the flu season kicked off early this 12 months in October. It normally begins in late December or early January.

“We are definitely in an epidemic if one looks at the tracking of the number of cases we would expect and when we would expect them,” Langley stated. “This is an unusual season. We are seeing a very rapid rise in the number of cases and it’s at a fairly high level.”

Her feedback come after numbers have been launched in a brand new report retaining a detailed watch on flu instances within the province.

According to the information within the province’s most up-to-date Respiratory Watch Report, 87 laboratory-confirmed instances of influenza have been reported within the week ending Nov. 12. In earlier years, Nova Scotia didn’t attain that weekly quantity till March.

Langley believes instances locally are even greater. She stated the flu might be severe for some folks, particularly youngsters beneath the age of 5.

“Over half of the cases in Nova Scotia in that surveillance system are people under 19 years of age,” she stated. “We’re certainly seeing children being hospitalized with influenza.”

According to the federal authorities, the flu is among the many 10 main causes of dying in Canada. It causes an estimated 12,200 hospital stays and three,500 deaths within the nation annually.

Langley is encouraging folks to guide their flu shot.

“There are a number of aspects that would make one worry about the different influenza season,” she stated. “One is if people have had time to get the vaccine. We would normally roll out the vaccine program in October and really you can get it throughout the fall and January. You need to get your vaccine now.”

In an announcement, Nova Scotia’s Department of Health and Wellness is reporting that almost 18,000 appointments have been booked out of the 39,000 out there.

Of these, 3,443 have been scheduled within the six months to 2 years previous age group. There are 14,544 bookings amongst these older than two.

The province can be reminding the pubic it could possibly take as much as two weeks for the vaccine to offer safety.

“We encourage everyone to continue their healthy habits learned and adopted through the COVID-19 pandemic,” the assertion stated. “If possible, if someone has cold or flu symptoms they should stay home until they are feeling better. If staying home is not possible, they should wear a mask when in public and avoid high-risk settings.”

Langley isn’t certain what’s going to occur over the following few months when it comes to the virus’ unfold.

“This is an unusual circumstance in the world where we’ve had a pandemic that’s basically eliminated the circulation of a lot of viruses and bacteria,” she stated. “Now we’re opening up and facing a new experience.”

However, Langley added the height of an epidemic normally lasts 4 to eight weeks.

&copy 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.