The Government of Saskatchewan says while the last few flu seasons saw little to no transmission of the bug, this year is different.
Provincial Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab says based on the flu season in the southern hemisphere, North America could see a significant influenza season this fall and winter.

The latest respiratory illness report from the government shows influenza cases have increased in Saskatchewan with 61 per cent of those in children and youth up to 19 years.

Dr. Shahab is encouraging all residents get up to date with available vaccinations.

As of November 10, 185,531 doses of influenza vaccine have been administered in Saskatchewan, representing approximately 15 per cent of the population.

Shahab says a number of respiratory illnesses are currently putting pressure on Saskatchewan’s acute care system and the best way to protect yourself against influenza is to be immunized.

The Public Health Agency of Canada in its latest FluWatch report (Oct 30-Nov 5) says at the national level, influenza activity has crossed the seasonal threshold, indicating the start of an influenza epidemic.  Saskatchewan shows the largest geographic area for widespread flu infection. There is a southwest corner of Alberta similarly impacted and a portion of southern Ontario as well as New Brunswick.

The weekly percentage of tests positive for influenza increased from 6.3% in week 43 to 11.7% in week 44
and is above expected pre-pandemic levels. Essentially, the national flu test positivity rate nearly doubled from the last week of October to the first week of November.