Flu kills 22 Manitobans

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This article was published 15/12/2022 (643 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Influenza has killed 22 Manitobans and is responsible for more than 300 people being hospitalized this season.

Babies, toddlers and seniors are most at risk from this flu (influenza A, H3N2 strain), and most of the lives claimed have been Manitobans 65 or older. Younger adults, and one child between the age of five and 17, have also died of the flu this year.

The provincial government’s most recent respiratory virus surveillance report, published Friday, shows Manitoba’s flu test positivity rate of 27.2 per cent has surpassed the national average of 21.5 per cent.

Although more people are being tested for influenza this year than in past flu seasons, there is still no widespread flu test for the general population. That, coupled with a provincial data entry backlog on recording flu-test results, means the numbers are an underestimate of transmission in Manitoba.

Flu is being detected at the highest rate in children younger than five, who account for about 12 per cent of all cases and 20 per cent of hospitalizations.

Respiratory syncytial virus is also on the rise. Test positivity for RSV was 5.4 per cent during the week of Dec. 4 to 10, up from four per cent the previous week.

As a result of the surge of seriously ill children and the demand for pediatric intensive care, the Health Sciences Centre has suspended children’s elective surgeries, and the delay is expected to continue into the new year, HSC officials announced earlier this week.

— Staff