"With flu cases now rising in Canada, medical experts are bracing for a difficult influenza season linked to the global spread of an evolving H3N2 strain that could be a mismatch for this year's vaccine. New federal data out Friday shows roughly two per cent of country-wide tests came back positive for influenza in the previous week. That's still shy of the five per cent bar for Canada to declare a seasonal flu epidemic, but it's a noticeable uptick from a few weeks before."
"It's the second year in a row where they've had above-average influenza detections in the southern hemisphere, said Dr. Jesse Papenburg, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Montreal Children's Hospital and the McGill University Health Centre. In terms of the number of cases, last year was probably the worst influenza season Canada had had in a decade, and it seems like that could occur again this year in terms of severity of disease."
"In Australia, physicians recently sounded the alarm after more than 410,000 lab-confirmed cases across the country, marking the second record high flu year in a row. In late October, U.K. health officials announced its flu season had arrived more than a month earlier than usual, with cases three times higher than last year, amid expectations of a long and drawn-out flu season."
Flu cases in Canada are rising, with about two per cent of nationwide tests positive last week, below the five per cent epidemic threshold but higher than recent weeks. Global influenza activity has shown record or early surges in the southern hemisphere, the U.K., Japan and parts of Asia. A mutating H3N2 influenza A strain is spreading and could be mismatched with this season's vaccine, raising concerns about more severe infections, particularly among older adults. Australia reported over 410,000 lab-confirmed cases and the U.K. experienced an early, elevated season, suggesting heightened risk for Canada this winter.
Read at www.cbc.ca
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