‘Unique’ Alberta respiratory virus season has likely reached peak, top doc says

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Vivien Suttorp, provided an update Tuesday on the state of the province’s respiratory virus season.

It comes as the province grapples with a hospital system strained, in part, by high rates of influenza.

Suttorp says this season has been a bit different.

“This season is very unique — we have a very quick peak and a high peak of influenza A, H3N2, and that is a unique strain that is also slightly different than what was predicted to come,” she explained.

However, she says early data indicates the worst of this season may be over.

“But there’s some encouraging news: early indicators suggest that influenza A activity has reached its peak,” Suttorp said. “We are now seeing test positivity rates decline, case counts are beginning to fall, and the number of Albertans admitted to hospital with influenza A is starting to drop.”

Some physicians have been calling for emergency measures to help cope with the risk of long wait times and overcrowding in emergency rooms.

The ministry in charge of hospitals says higher patient volumes are due to an “early and unusually large” spike in flu cases in mid-December.

As of Jan. 3, the province counted 653 influenza cases in hospital, with 51 in intensive care.

Hospital admissions during early January have spiked far higher this season than in the previous four.

133 people with influenza have died in Alberta this year.