This year’s flu is unusual because of the age of its victims

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The H1N1 strain of the flu that is making the rounds across North America, including BC, is in some cases so severe people have been put on ventilators.

But it’s not the number of people falling sick that is remarkable about this flu. It’s their age.

“Every year we get hospitalizations and serious complications and some deaths. Usually that happens in the over-65 age bracket. This year especially in Alberta, we’ve seen deaths in the age group we don’t usually see,” says provincial chief medical  health officer Dr. Perry Kendall.

That vulnerable age group includes people in their 30s, 40s and 50s.

Five people have died in Alberta and three in Saskatchewan, including two children under the age of five. However, in terms of the numbers of people in hospital and severity of their symptoms, Dr. Kendall says it’s a typical flu season. And people who’ve needed hospitalization because of the flu had underlying health issues.

The flu strain we’re seeing now is a descendent of the one we saw in 2009, that prompted mass immunization clinics.

Dr. Kendall says fortunately because the virus has been around for the past five years,  there is already substantial resistance to it in the population.

But he is strongly advising everyone to get a flu shot.

Health care workers are complying with the mask/flu shot policy

It’s been a month since BC health care workers have been required to either get a flu shot or wear a mask at work.

Dr. Kendall is pleased with the number of people opting to get immunized.

“Across the healthcare workforce, our coverage is 75 per cent and that includes part time workers. If you look at people who are working in intensive care units, we have 90 per cent immunization rates.”

He says the number of workers failing to wear a mask or get a flu shot is very low.

“We know people who aren’t immunized are wearing masks when they are in patient-care areas, so we’d like to thank them,” he notes.

Workers face disciplinary action if they don’t comply.

People visiting any health care facility in the province are also required to be immunized or wear a mask.

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