Grab your tissues: Canada’s flu season has officially begun, officials say | 24CA News
Flu season has formally begun in Canada, the federal public well being company mentioned on Friday.
“At the national level, influenza activity has crossed the seasonal threshold, indicating the start of influenza season,” the Public Health Agency of Canada mentioned in its weekly FluWatch report posted on-line.
The charge of assessments that have been optimistic for flu stayed above 5 per cent for 2 consecutive weeks.
As of Nov. 25, 7.5 per cent of individuals examined for influenza throughout Canada have been optimistic.
The variety of circumstances is climbing, mentioned Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious illnesses specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
“If you plan to get a flu vaccine, now is a really good time to do it,” she mentioned in an interview.
“The flu season starting now tells you that there’s going to be a lot of flu at the end of December and the beginning of January,” McGeer mentioned, noting the flu shot takes about two weeks to prime individuals’s immune programs.
“That’s when you want to be out with your friends and doing a bunch of things and, you know, flu is capable of making that time quite miserable.”
Not all provinces and territories are reporting a 5 per cent positivity charge but. For instance, Public Health Ontario’s newest flu surveillance report mentioned the speed was 2.8 per cent as of Nov. 25 in that province.
But Ontario and different provinces will quickly catch up and people charges will enhance, McGeer mentioned.
The dominant pressure now shall be influenza A kind H1N1, which is an effective match for the present vaccine, she mentioned.
Many adults have some degree of resistance to H1N1 flu strains, so it “tends to cause a lot of disease in kids, especially unvaccinated kids,” McGeer mentioned.
She added that “emergency departments and pediatrics … take more of the pressure” throughout H1N1-dominant flu seasons.
Although McGeer mentioned it’s necessary for individuals to get their flu vaccines, she’s much more involved concerning the ranges of COVID-19 which might be circulating this yr.
Friday’s surveillance report from Public Health Ontario confirmed a take a look at positivity charge of 20 per cent for COVID-19 in that province.
In addition to check positivity, wastewater surveillance and hospitalizations present climbing COVID-19 circumstances in Canada, McGeer mentioned.
“Just because we’ve stopped talking about people being hospitalized with COVID does not mean that people aren’t being hospitalized with COVID,” she mentioned.
“At the rate we’re going, there will be more people hospitalized with COVID and more people dying from COVID this year than last year,” McGeer mentioned, noting {that a} low uptake of the brand new COVID XBB-variant vaccine is worrisome.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Dec. 1, 2023.
Canadian Press well being protection receives help by way of a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely accountable for this content material.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
