Public flu shot clinics are taking place at Lethbridge Exhibition Park and across southern Alberta. Photo credit to MyLethbridgeNow.com (Pat Siedlecki)
Alberta Health Services posting its first weekly data update Friday (Nov. 8) on the province’s influenza season.
Since the beginning of October, there have been about 140 lab-confirmed cases of the flu, almost all of those being Influenza “A”.
Of those total cases, only 11 cases are here in the South Zone.
Dr. Jia Hu, AHS Medical Officer of Health, says it’s important to remember the influenza disease data they capture in these weekly updates is considered a mere fraction of the influenza activity that is actually impacting people.
“Not all cases of influenza are lab-confirmed and not all cases require hospitalization. However, by consistently sharing the influenza disease information that we do capture, we are still ensuring Albertans understand the stark reality of influenza,” says Hu
The Calgary Zone is seeing the biggest increase in flu cases right now.
Dr. Hu says it’s important to emphasize that influenza is here, it is serious and already sending people to the hospital. She encourages everyone to get a flu shot as your best protection. For public clinics, sates, and time visit the AHS web site.
To date, just over 713,000 doses of flu vaccine have been given out across the province.
