Stanton bracing for flu patients
Peak in flu season expected after travellers return from holidays, says NWT top doctor
Randi Beers
Northern News Services
Published Friday, January 9, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
There might be something virulent hitching a ride with the planeloads of Northwest Territories' residents returning from holidays over the past week and medical authorities are bracing for it.
NWT health authorities are bracing for an influx of influenza cases following the holiday season, according to Dr. Andre Corriveau, NWT's Chief Medical Officer. The Department of Public Health has confirmed about 2,000 cases across the country as of Dec. 13, compared with 400 cases by this time last year. - NNSL file photo |
Flu season has hit southern Canada hard this year and Dr. Andre Corriveau, the Department of Health and Social Services' (HSS) chief medical officer, says Stanton Territorial Hospital and other regional health facilities are in turn expecting a spike in cases as traveling Northerners bring it with them.
He told Yellowknifer on Monday local facilities are already seeing an increase, with eight out of the territory's 23 documented influenza cases occurring in the past week. He added the territory has not seen any hospitalizations caused by the flu yet this season.
"Eight new cases in the territory since Christmas – it does seem to be picking up," confirmed Corriveau.
"And it's only the tip of the iceberg really because only really sick people will get tested. Most people put up with it and stay home."
This year's predominant flu strain, H3N2, is not a good match for the flu vaccine – which was concocted almost a year ago based on recommendations from the World Health Organization. Doctors believe this is partially to blame for a harsher than normal flu season across the country.
According to the Department of Public Health's weekly FluWatch report, laboratory detections of influenza increased sharply for the fifth week in a row for the week of Dec. 14 to Dec. 20 with a majority of new cases coming from Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.
As of Dec. 13, Public Health has reported approximately 2,000 confirmed flu cases across the country. At this time last year, the department reported just 400.
The Northwest Territories does not have a lab to differentiate between flu strains, so doctors send positive flu results to Alberta laboratories to be tested for type. Corriveau said all 15 tests that have come back from the laboratory have been identified as H3N2, but he also noted that every case HSS has seen except one has been from a patient who was not immunized.
"This is a good indication that people who have gotten flu shot will end up with a milder form (of it)," he said.
"Immunization will still give a degree of protection because it tends to tone it down."
For people who have come back from holidays with the basic hallmarks of influenza – fever, cough, sore throat and fatigue – Corriveau advised them to stay home, get rest and be careful not to pass it along.
"If you are a high risk person or if symptoms are unusually bad, we encourage (them) to see a health care provider, but most health people will go through the episode and have no lasting consequences," he said.
High risk patients are seniors over 65 years, pregnant women and children under five years.
For everybody else, Corriveau recommended frequent hand washing, disinfection and getting vaccinating because, he reiterated, it appears to offer some protection despite not being a good match for the flu strain going around.
