Average year for flu cases in Waterloo Region
Posted Mar 19, 2015 05:00:15 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Flu season is coming to and end and Waterloo Region experienced an average year, according to Waterloo Public Health.
The flu season officially ends at the beginning of April.
Officials say the effectiveness of the vaccine for this year’s flu strain was lowered because it was kind of a mismatch to the strain.
Linda Black is Manager of Vaccine Preventable Disease Program with Public Health who says because of this mismatch there was a small increase in the number of cases.
“This year we had 346, so far, confirmed cases. The majority of them being Flu A” says Black. “We are starting to see some Flu B pop up.”
Elderly were more susceptible to this year’s strain, so there was an increase in cases of the flu at retirement and long term care homes.
This year there were 346 confirmed cases of the flu so far, but cautions that not everyone who has the virus gets swabbed. There were nine deaths in Waterloo Region that were either caused by the flu or the flu was a contributing factor.
Black says even though the vaccine wasn’t as effective as years past, it still offered some protection, which she says is better then none.
