Canada seeing highest percentage of positive flu tests in three seasons

As the holidays creep around the corner and the country sees the highest flu positivity rate in years, Ontario doctors and pharmacists are urging residents to get immunized.

The province will likely see the flu season's peak over the holidays, Toronto General Hospital infectious diseases specialist Isaac Bogoch told CBC Toronto Sunday.

“This is probably going to be a more severe flu season compared to the average," he said.

According to Health Canada, the country saw 27.7 per cent of tests come back positive for the week ending on Dec. 13. This is the highest value of positive tests recorded in the last three seasons, surpassing the 27.6 per cent positivity rate reported back in the week ending on Feb. 15.

Public Health Ontario also saw a 33.8 per cent positivity rate in Ontario for the week ending on Dec. 13, which the public health agency categorized as “very high.” Percent positive remained the highest in children at 73.3 per cent.

On Monday, health officials in Ottawa and a neighbouring region announced three children between the ages of five and nine had died from complications of influenza in December.

Bogoch said the rise in cases is likely because the H3N2 strain of Influenza A — known for more severe infections — is circulating the most.

“It's too soon to know how this season is going to shake out,” he said. “But I think when we're looking at the data in hindsight, there probably will be more hospitalizations related to the flu this year compared to a regular flu season.”

71% of infections detected are H3N2

In a statement to CBC Toronto, Health Canada spokesperson Marie-Pier Burelle said the H3N2 strain is dominant this year at 71 per cent of infections detected.

It is also spreading widely in the community and typically has a higher number of hospitalizations, with the flu-associated weekly hospitalization rate increasing from 2.1 to 3.6 hospitalizations per 100,000 people in the most recent reporting week, Burelle added.

“This year we are seeing that children are being heavily impacted by the flu at this point in the season," Burrelle said.

Bogoch said it’s normal to see an uptick in hospitalizations during the months of December and January.

“This is our flu season and this is where we see, sadly, more cases of flu throughout the country, more people coming to urgent care, sadly more people coming to hospital and being admitted to hospital,” he said.

'Never too late to get the flu shot,' expert says

That’s why it’s important to get immunized, he urged.

“It's not too late to get the flu vaccine,” he said. “We've known the flu shot isn't perfect since flu shots emerged, but it still can reduce the risk of infection.”

Bogoch recognized this year’s flu shot isn’t “perfect,” especially since the component that protects against the H3N2 strain is not as good as he says he’d like it to be.

“That component of the vaccine still provides some protection, just not as much as we would like," he said.

Rexall pharmacist Deanna Kang said it’s not just those who are vulnerable who should be getting the flu vaccine.

“It's never too late to get the flu shot and you never know who you may be impacting just walking down the street or being out in public. How healthy you are also affects the health of those around you," she said.

Kang suggested staying home and masking.

"Even though we may be feeling like a healthy strong individual, a flu case could be particularly nasty on us as well," she said.

That’s going to be hard to do over the holiday season, Bogoch said.

“Of course, people can gather for the holidays,” he said. “Having said that, if people are sick with the flu or with anything else, there's no point going to work, or sending your kids to school, or going to a holiday party and getting everyone else sick.”