Health · Public Health & Disease · 7 hrs ago
Canada's flu season starts about seven weeks earlier than usual
Canada's flu season began about seven weeks earlier than usual this year, as vaccines started rolling out.
In the week ending Oct.
17, 6.1 per cent of flu tests were positive, compared with 0.8 per cent in the same week last year.
Health Canada considers five per cent the epidemic threshold, which Canada did not reach until mid-November last year.
H1N1 is the dominant strain; it is a type of influenza A and caused the 2009 swine flu epidemic.
The vaccine covers H1N1, but its effectiveness this season is not yet known and will be assessed as more cases are studied.
Vaccination can reduce the risk of severe illness and hospitalization, regardless of which flu strains are circulating.
Experts say the early start is not yet a reason for alarm, and the vaccine's effectiveness should become clearer as the season progresses.
Canada’s flu season started about seven weeks earlier than usual, infectious disease experts say.
In the week ending Oct. 17, 6.1 per cent of tests detected influenza, according to Health Canada.
The epidemic threshold is five per cent; Canada did not pass it until mid-November last year.
British Columbia saw flu positivity rates of 10 to 15 per cent as early as late September.
Experts say the dominant strain is H1N1, and this year’s vaccine covers it, though its effectiveness is not yet known.
- Who
- Canada and people affected by influenza.
- What
- The flu season began about seven weeks earlier than usual.
- When
- This year; Health Canada reported 6.1 per cent test positivity for the week ending Oct. 17.
- Where
- Canada, with British Columbia particularly affected early in the season.
- Why
- Experts said the exact reason is difficult to know. One suggested the virus may have arrived from the Pacific Rim or the southern hemisphere.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
British Columbia saw flu positivity rates between 10 and 15 per cent, according to an expert.
Health Canada data showed influenza in 6.1 per cent of tests.
Global News reported that Canada’s flu season had started about seven weeks earlier than usual.
- Health Canada test positivity
- 6.1 per cent in the week ending Oct. 17
- Epidemic threshold
- 5 per cent
- British Columbia positivity
- 10 to 15 per cent as early as late September
- Dominant strain
- H1N1
- Vaccine coverage
- This year’s vaccine covers the H1N1 strain
What people are saying
It’s still within the range of not being unusual, but it absolutely started earlier
So evidently, the virus has entered from the Pacific Rim, perhaps the southern hemisphere that’s ending its flu season and it has made its entry into the West Coast, particularly into British Columbia.
The truth is that we will only know how well the vaccine works once we’ve proved enough cases to be able to do interim analyses on vaccine effectiveness in the field