Flu Not Yet Hit Its Peak
By 250 News
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 01:22 PM
Prince George, B.C.- Since November 3rd, there have been 202 new severe cases of H1N1 identified in B.C., with eight new deaths, however none of the deaths occurred in the Northern Health region.
Among those who died over the past week, is an 8 year old who had underlying health issues.
Also since November 3rd, there have been eleven new severe cases of H1N1 in Northern Health.
Since April, there have been 23 laboratory-confirmed H1N1 deaths in B.C. In 22 of those cases, there were underlying medical conditions. Dr. Perry Kendall, Provincial Health Officer says while the deaths are regrettable, they are not unexpected “Every year, about 200 people die in B.C. from seasonal flu, so while the deaths are regrettable, they are not unexpected. I do expect more people will be hospitalized and there will be more deaths, but it appears the number of deaths will be less than what we have seen during a mild flu season.”
Dr. Kendall says the number of admissions to hospital are up, with 202 people admitted this week, compared to 183 last week.
While he thinks the wave of flu may be nearing its peak in the lower mainland, the Northern Health region will continue to see numbers of cases rise “Because they are typically a couple of weeks behind the lower mainland, there is a lower population so while the number of cases may start to diminish in the lower mainland, I would suspect the numbers will continue to rise in the north.” He says the best guess is that the virus will effect about 25% of the population in the North. The only reason why the Northern Health region is behind the situation in the lower mainland is that it took longer for the virus to get here “Now that its there, I would expect it will spread at the same rate as it has spread in the lower mainland.”
In total, the BC Centre for Disease Control has confirmed 601 severe H1N1 cases in B.C.since April 2009, including:
· Twenty-five in Northern Health
· Two hundred and sixty-two in Fraser Health, including eleven deaths.
· One hundred and thirty in Interior Health, including three deaths.
· One hundred and fifty-seven in Vancouver Coastal Health, including five deaths.
· Twenty-seven on Vancouver Island, including four deaths.
B.C. continues to monitor and respond to the spread of the pandemic H1N1 flu virus. Since Nov. 3, there have been 202 new severe cases of H1N1 identified in B.C. – 11 in Northern Health , 96 in Fraser Health, 47 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 44 in Interior Health, and four on Vancouver Island – with eight new deaths, including three in Vancouver Coastal Health, three on Vancouver Island and two in Fraser Health.
The majority of lab-confirmed cases in B.C. have been mild or moderate in severity, with the patients either having already recovered or currently recovering.
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Posted by: CaringSoul on November 10 2009 2:57 PM
Hmmm is this what Nostradomas, was trying to say.