Flu activity in some parts of Canada is showing signs of growth, according to numbers released Friday.
However, patterns across Canada are not uniform, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s weekly FluWatch report. Six regions among 51 reporting data for the week ending Feb. 10 experienced widespread flu activity (one in B.C., two in Ontario and three in Quebec.) Another 25 regions reported localized activity.
The numbers show detections of influenza A are within expected levels for this time of year, but circulation of influenza B is at a seven-year high. The overall percentage of tests positive for the flu increased from 31 per cent to 34 per cent and during the week of Feb. 4 to Feb. 10, 3.6 per cent of health care visits were due to flu symptoms, a decrease compared to the week before but still above the five-year average.
There have been 38,014 lab-confirmed cases of influenza this season as of Feb. 10, accounting for 142 deaths and 3,252 hospital admissions. Those deaths included five children under 16. The flu has resulted in 594 pediatric hospital admissions.
As well, lab-confirmed outbreaks of influenza outbreaks in long-term care facilities, hospitals, schools and other settings increased in the last week to 122, up from 78 the week before.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control in the United States reported Friday that one of every 13 visits to the doctor last week was for symptoms of the flu. While that’s still among the highest levels in the decade, it’s not getting worse. And flu activity had been increasing every week since November.
The number of states reporting heavy flu levels also held steady at 43.
While preliminary U.S. data had indicated this flu season was as bad as the swine flu pandemic in 2009, revised numbers from the CDC released Friday show it hasn’t been that intense but still qualifies as an epidemic.
For the week ending Jan. 27, a little less than 10 per cent of U.S. death certificates listed flu or pneumonia as the cause of death. That's down slightly from the week before, but indicates that flu remains at epidemic levels.
