Peak for Sask. flu cases expected in coming weeks

There has been one flu-related death in the province this flu season. The man’s name and city of residence were not released.

Linda Gilmore, Atlantic County spokeswoman, said the county has provided 1,122 vaccines this season. New vaccines are created every six months – one for each hemisphere. The state has 15 flu regions, if over half have confirmed flu cases then status moves to widespread.

A 98 year New Castle woman has succumbed to the flu making her death the second this season in Delaware.

In its update for the week ending Jan 8, European health officials said flu activity that started early this season is still at high or very high levels in 11 countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Serbia, and Switzerland.

“The flu can be deadly and causes thousands of fatalities each year in the United States”, said CDPH Director and State Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith.

“Get the flu shot now, but keep in mind that it takes two weeks for the antibodies to build up in the body”, Anderson said.

With the 2016-2017 flu season in full swing and influenza activity increasing across the state, it is critical that all Floridians get the flu vaccine to protect against infection and help prevent the spread of seasonal flu to others.

Experts say it is risky when the majority of people are not protected against the flu, particularly children. CDC recommends annual seasonal influenza vaccination for everyone 6 months and older to protect against seasonal flu viruses.

General of influenza virus that it has are influenza A and Influenza C. Influenza C is rare, whereas Influenza A which is also known as swine influenza with subtypes H1N1, H1N2, H3N2, and H7N9, is the main cause of Swine flu.

“It’s always heartbreaking to learn that someone died of the flu, and we are just now beginning to enter peak flu season”, said Indiana State Health Commissioner Jerome Adams, M.D., M.P.H. “If you have not yet received a flu shot, it is not too late”.

Even healthy kids of any age can get seriously sick from the flu, and they can spread it to family, friends and others. That is down from total vaccines given previous year, but Gilmore said the county will be providing vaccines for the next several months. However, the nasal spray flu vaccine should not be used because it has been shown to be ineffective.