Still no flu despite ample testing being done

There are so few cases of influenza across Canada that it has still not been declared a flu season, and according to numbers released this week Alberta remains free of flu.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, says there are no cases even though the number of lab tests done for flu this season are more than ever before.

Roughly 5,000 more Albertans got the flu vaccine across the province since the last report, for a total now of 1,524,230. In just the South zone, including Medicine Hat, a total of 95,757 have been vaccinated. A week earlier there had been 94,681 total vaccinated in the South, according to a report by Alberta Health Services.

In 2018 across the whole province by the end of January, there were 6,320 lab-confirmed cases of influenza A and B and 46 deaths. Last year there were 3,665 lab-confirmed cases of influenza A and B and 12 deaths.