CALGARY- A central Alberta patient has become the province’s 20th fatal case of H1N1 flu this year as the season enters its final weeks.
Since February 4, Alberta Health Services has reported 108 new confirmed flu cases, 24 of which required hospitalization. In total, there have been 2,975 cases province-wide this season.
“The season has slowed down, particularly in Alberta,” says Dr. John Spika, Director General of the Centre for Immunization with the Public Health Agency of Canada.
“If we look back at the incidents of death and incidents of hospitalizations across Canada, this year’s flu season is going to end up having much less of an impact than last year.”
Spika says the attention focused on the flu in recent months has proven to be a good thing because it has encouraged more Canadians to get immunized after years of declining vaccination rates. Over 1.1 million Albertans received the flu vaccine this year between October 2012 and January 2013.
With some exceptions, the flu vaccine is no longer available in Alberta but officials say you can still prevent the spread of flu and other infectious disease by staying away from others when you’re ill and when you’re healthy, by frequently washing your hands.
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