Influenza is here. What can Albertans expect?
CBC
Influenza has arrived in Alberta and while its gaining traction later in the season than last year, some are concerned that with COVID-19 hospitalizations remaining high, hospitals could struggle under the increasing pressure.
The two most recent weeks of data show that Alberta's influenza cases have more than quadrupled, from a total of 87 cases during the week of Oct. 22, to 389 cases the week of Nov. 5.
Positivity rates have spiked, with the latest provincial numbers hovering just under 14 per cent. While it's variable by region, wastewater influenza levels are rising too.
"We're seeing a rapid rise in influenza in the community, "said Dr. Dan Gregson, an infectious disease physician with the University of Calgary.
"We're just at the very beginning of our influenza season."
Experts often look to the southern hemisphere for a sense of what Canada's influenza season will be like.
"In Australia they had a very bad flu season in their winter so we're worried there's going to be a bad flu season here," said Gregson.
Calgary hospitals, Gregson noted, are already dealing with high numbers of COVID-19 patients.
"And then we're now piling on influenza and RSV on top of that so it's a lot of people in the system that weren't there before."
159 people have been hospitalized due to influenza so far this season. There have been 18 ICU admissions and six deaths.
The majority of influenza cases reported so far this season are the H1N1 subtype of influenza A, which the province hasn't seen much of in recent years.
RSV is showing early signs of increases as well.
Alberta's respiratory dashboard shows more than half of the people hospitalized for influenza so far this season have been in the Calgary zone.
Dr. Eddy Lang, the head of emergency medicine in the zone, said it's important to note these are early days for influenza and there are currently far more people hospitalized due to COVID-19.
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