influenza cases saw notable increases starting in October, a trend that’s only seen a month or two variance going back to 2009.This year, that increase started in March, a shift of six months.
Assessing your risk in Canada’s 6th wave will be difficult. Here’s why Dr. Craig Jenne, an associate professor in the University of Calgary’s department of microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases, said the uptick in influenza in Alberta shouldn’t come as a surprise given all the factors.“We saw this fall that, for example, vaccination rates for seasonal influenza shots were lower than normal in the province, so that means we had reduced protection,” Jenne told Global News.So far this flu season, only 27.3 per cent of Albertans have received influenza shots.
That’s down from 37.4 per cent the year before.“As we move through spring, we have seen most public health guidance begin to ease.
So people are now gathering and many of those measures that have protected us for the last two years, wearing masks, limiting indoor gatherings – they’re gone.”Provincial data showed unabated growth in lab-confirmed seasonal influenza following the start of Step 2, when public health measures like gathering limits and indoor mask mandates expired.“Just like COVID, influenza is a respiratory virus, and it will absolutely take advantage of those settings to spread between people.”So far this flu season, 707 Albertans have had lab-confirmed influenza.