Alberta influenza season appears to be tailing off

Flu numbers appear to indicate we might be nearing the end of the flu season.

There was one recent death across the province, but south zone numbers have been steady since early February.

The number of flu deaths across Alberta this season stands at 50, including a total of seven in the south zone, says Alberta Health Services. By the middle of March last year there had been 47 deaths related to flu.

Numbers released by AHS are cumulative from Aug. 28, 2016. There have been 3,627 lab-confirmed cases of influenza A and 125 cases of influenza B this season across Alberta. In the south zone there have been 272 cases of A, representing no change in the last week, and 28 of B, two more since last week.

By the middle of March last year, there had been 3,298 cases of influenza A in the province and 989 cases of influenza B. In the south zone for the same time frame there were 208 cases of A and 80 B.

The number of people hospitalized with lab-confirmed influenza continues to climb but not as dramatically. A week ago there had been 1,294 hospital admissions with lab-confirmed influenza and that number now sits at 1,317, according to the latest AHS report. In the south zone the number increased from 105 to 106 in the past week.

The number of Albertans getting vaccinated continues to increase for a total of 1,151,450 this influenza season, according to the latest data released. In the south zone that number is 87,759.

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.