WINNIPEG — Manitoba Health has reported a recent spike in flu activity across the province and says the dominant strain is H1N1.
That's the strain that claimed several hundred lives during the 2009 pandemic.
In a letter written to health care providers last week, the Public Health and Primary Health Care Division wrote that the current wave of influenza activity is expected to last several weeks.
Influenza surveillance data indicates that during the week of Feb. 21-27, there were 21 people hospitalized due to the flu, seven required intensive care and two died.
In both deaths, the person was under the age of 65.
The province has not indicated where in Manitoba they lived or whether either of them had H1N1.
Manitoba Health said health care providers can continue to offer flu vaccine to all Manitobans at no charge.
It said preliminary estimates of vaccine effectiveness from the United States suggest vaccines available in Manitoba are on average 60 per cent effective against all circulating strains, and 99 per cent of all H1N1 strains tested to date have been sensitive to the antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir.
