As Canadians prepare for the holidays, influenza is showing no sign of slowing down. Earlier this month, the virus shut down the Swain family household in Airdrie, Alta. Charlotte Swain, who is expecting her second child, caught it the worst. “The cough became fairly unbearable. It was extremely painful, and it started to become extremely painful to breathe,” said Swain, who did not receive the seasonal flu shot this year. At nearly eight months pregnant, Swain was hospitalized for nine days. She said doctors told her she had influenza A that led to pneumonia. She was dehydrated, had a collapsed lung and was partially septic. “I wouldn’t have thought I could go from being somewhat okay to not being okay within 24 hours,” she said. “The scary part was they were constantly prepping. They were giving me steroid injections … to prepare baby to come out.” Swain was worried she’d go into labour early. But she said she and the baby got lucky with no complications. She returned home last weekend. She is healing, but still not 100 per cent healthy. Her hope now is to feel good enough to decorate for the holidays this weekend. “Normally our Christmas tree goes up Dec. 1 every year. We’ve just been so sick, we still don’t have our Christmas tree up,” she said. Flu cases are surging across the prairies. The region has the highest test positivity rate in the country at 32.4 per cent, according to the latest data from the Government of Canada. In Saskatchewan, test positivity has tripled in the last month. “The flu cases in the community are increasing at a faster rate than what we normally see,” said Dr. Simon Kapaj, a medical health officer with the Saskatchewan Health Authority. “More people are getting sick. More people are not going to work or school, and as a result, some people are very sick showing up in hospitals. The number of hospital and ICU admissions due to influenza are growing, according to the latest data released by the Saskatchewan government. One person died from flu-related complications in Saskatchewan in the last two weeks. They were over the age of 65 and unvaccinated, according to Kapaj. “Severe infection leads to severe illness for some people, especially the ones that have underlying medical conditions, children, pregnant women and the elderly as well,” he said. Transmission is likely to increase as people travel and gather over the holidays, Kapaj added. Doctors say the flu vaccine is the best form of protection. Despite not knowing how long the flu surge will last, Kapaj said it’s not too late to get vaccinated.
