Spike in flu cases
Posted Jan 24, 2011 12:48:37 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The region’s public health unit is seeing a spike in the number of flu cases and it appears to be prompting more people to get their shots.
The number of confirmed cases has almost doubled since January 12th, from 67 to 142.
Director of Infectious Diseases Karen Quigley-Hobbs says the increase is normal.
“This is one of the things about influenza,” she says. “It never does the same thing every year. It could be a slow climb, and have a prolonged effect on the community, or it could be a quick hike and a quick down.”
As more people get sick, Quigley-Hobbs says the demand for the flu shot is going up.
So far this year, 17 people have been hospitalized and 3 people have died, one of them from H1N1.
Quigley-Hobbs says most of those cases involved high risk groups and complicating medical conditions.
