Two more Alberta flu deaths

There have been two more deaths in Alberta from flu and another 58 hospitalized with lab-confirmed influenza.

The number of flu deaths across the province this season now stands at 43, including a total of seven in the south zone, says Alberta Health Services.

Numbers released by AHS are cumulative from Aug. 28, 2016. There have been 3,320 lab-confirmed cases of influenza A and 57 cases of influenza B this season across the province. In the south zone there have been 253 cases of A and 17 of B.

By Feb. 18 last year, there had been 1,490 cases of influenza A in the province and 266 cases of influenza B. In the south zone for the same time frame there were 73 cases of A and 15 of B.

The number of people hospitalized with lab-confirmed influenza continues to climb. A week ago there had been 1,080 hospital admissions with lab-confirmed influenza and that number now sits at 1,138, according to the latest AHS report. In the south zone the number increased from 94 to 97 in the past week.

The number of Albertans getting vaccinated continues to increase for a total of 1,137,615 this influenza season, according to the latest data released. In the south zone that number is 86,468.

Influenza immunization is available at public clinics, some pharmacists and physician offices. For more information, including local clinic schedules, visit ahs.ca/influenza or call Health Link at 811.