No guarantee Alberta's mild flu season will continue, experts say
原始发布日期： 2015-12-24 发布者：虫子字变大 字变小
 A flu shot is administered in Barre, Vt., Nov.18, 2004. It's official. Flu season is in full swing in many parts of Canada. And virtually all the viruses circulating at this point are from the H3N2 family, which is unfortunate. Toby Talbot / Edmonton Journal“One of the fascinating things about influenza is that we know each year there is going to be a seasonal epidemic but we don’t what the epidemic is going to look like until it hits us,” said Dr. Joanna Oda, medical officer of health for Alberta Health Services in the Edmonton zone. “It’s always hard to predict what will happen, but to date we can say there are far fewer cases and far fewer outbreaks than we saw last season at this time.” As of mid December, AHS had confirmed 77 cases of influenza across the province. Just 23 people with the virus had been hospitalized and there were no flu-related deaths. Around the same time last year, there were 1,450 confirmed cases, and 260 hospitalizations. Ten people with the flu had died by mid-December, beginning a trend that eventually claimed more than 100 lives by the end of the season — the highest total on record since the mid-1990s when reliable statistics began being kept. Oda said the influenza strain that did so much damage last winter, H3N2, is the same strain that seems to be dominant this season, though the particular mutation that is circulating is having less severe effects. Helping the cause is the fact this year’s flu vaccine appears to be more effective than last year’s version, which was not well matched to the mutation that became dominant. Still, she said, public health experts are watching to see what happens through the holiday season and the early part of 2016 before declaring this year’s flu an easy ride. Typically, there is a bump in cases after the holidays when people go back to work and children go back to school. As such, Oda said Albertans should get the flu shot if they haven’t already, as it is the best protection against the virus. As of Dec. 12, close to 982,000 Albertans had received the shot, compared to 1.14 million at the same time last year. Oda said it’s unclear what is behind the lower immunization numbers, since a survey that was conducted earlier this year found high levels of motivation among the public to get vaccinated. She said it is possible the decline is partially due to the fact influenza has not been a major concern so far this season. “Getting immunized is really the best way to protect yourself and protect the people are around you, especially as we are gathering for the holiday season,” she said. “It’s much better to spread joy, love and comfort than one’s germs.” For anyone who feels they might be infected, that means staying home and avoiding contact with other people. “I know that’s hard to do during the holidays when everyone wants to see each other,” she said. kgerein@edmontonjournal.com twitter.com/keithgerein INFLUENZA INFO Lab confirmed cases of flu: Edmonton zone: 21 Calgary zone: 30 North zone: 5 Central zone: 16 South zone: 5 Albertans admitted to hospital with flu: Edmonton zone: 8 Calgary zone: 10 North zone: 0 Central zone: 5 South zone: 0 Doses of flu vaccine administered: Edmonton zone: 327,819 Calgary zone: 400,792 North zone: 84,621 Central zone: 93,193 South zone: 75,466 Calgary Herald |