Influenza cases begin to stabilize, health agency reports

A patient receives an influenza vaccine in Mesquite, Texas, on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/LM Otero

As this year’s flu season continues to intensify, new national testing data shows a 27.7 per cent positivity rate for influenza in Canada.

Increasing by 0.7 percentage points from last week, the data released on the federal government’s Health Infobase dashboard shows the all-season high has surpassed the 2023-24 flu season’s peak of 18.7 per cent.

According to the dashboard, there were 12,466 detected cases in the week of Feb. 22.

A total of 179 new outbreaks associated with influenza have been reported, the data shows, with a weekly hospitalization rate of 8.9 per 100,000 population.

Ninety-two per cent of the cases were of influenza type A, where as only eight per cent were type B, according to the health agency’s data.

The age group with the largest number of influenza detections were those aged 65 years and above.

Despite the increase, the indicators of influenza activity have started showing signs of stabilizing, the report said.

Forty-three regions across 11 provinces and territories have reported influenza activity.

“Widespread activity” was reported in 10 regions within the provinces of B.C., Ontario and Quebec, the data shows.

Localized activity was reported in 22 regions within nine provinces and territories including Yukon, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and P.E.I.

What you should know about flu season

Influenza is a contagious respiratory virus that can present in the form of fever, cough, body aches, chills, fatigue, headaches, sore throat, loss of appetite and runny or stuffy noses according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Symptoms typically appear one to four days after exposure and can last up to 10 days.

The individual is considered contagious from the day prior to the start of the symptoms, until five days later.

Parents are advised to keep an eye out for low energy, irritability, difficulty breathing and changes in eating and drinking habits. Children are susceptible to gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

You can learn more about respiratory virus activity in Canada at CTVNews.ca’s tracker, here.

With files from CTV News' Charlie Buckley