Olds isn't immune to the wave of cases of influenza sweeping across Alberta.
Provincewide, influenza has killed five people in intensive care units in Calgary and Edmonton and has sent 251 people to hospital, with the health ministry reporting 965 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza as of Jan. 1.
In Alberta Health Services' (AHS) central zone, which extends from Olds in the south to Wetaskiwin in the north and east to Two Hills and west to Rocky Mountain House, there have been 123 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza since Jan. 1, with 117 of those cases being H1N1, the strain responsible for a global pandemic in 2009.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, a medical health officer for AHS's central zone, said these cases in the region are only the ìtip of the iceberg.î
ìBecause many people who are sick don't get tested.î
Although no exact numbers of influenza cases were available for Olds, Dr. Steven Turner, the facility medical director for the Olds Hospital and Care Centre, said local physicians started seeing people with influenza at the hospital and the Wild Rose Medical Clinic just before Christmas.
ìThe consensus would be when I talk with my colleagues that have been in (the) emerg(ency) room during the course of the holiday season that they are seeing increasing numbers of people with symptoms that we would expect are from influenza,î he said.
Susan Read, a site administrator at the Olds Mountain View Seniors' Housing lodge, said there have so far been no confirmed influenza cases at the facility, likely because recent poor weather conditions have kept people inside.
ìTouch wood, we're good,î she said.
The facility held an immunization clinic in early October, Read added, and 95 per cent of the lodge's 96 residents and 85 per cent of its staff members received a flu shot.
Turner said ìit's still earlyî to compare the severity of this flu season with previous years and whether the outbreak will spread further once school resumes on Jan. 6 was yet to be seen.
ìI can't say yet that we've seen the peak. We may still just be seeing the beginning of it.î
Influenza, he added, tends to come ìin a burst.î
ìIn the beginning of it, there's a few people and then there's a few more and then there's a few more and then when it really hits the community we see a big influx of people into the emerg(ency) room and into the clinic and then it fades away. And it will do that over just a few weeks.î
While the number of influenza cases in the central zone is similar to previous years, one of the more troubling aspects of this season is the severity of the symptoms people with influenza are experiencing and the age range it is affecting, mainly adults between the ages of 30 and 50.
ìNormally that age group is not most affected by influenza,î Hinshaw said, adding the reason for the severity and number of adults who are sick has to do with H1N1 being the dominant influenza strain this season.
As to why the strain is so prevalent this year, she said that's a ìreally good question.î
ìI wish I had an answer to that. We track influenza closely and we're still learning many things.î
Turner said health-care officials were expecting H1N1 to become more prevalent in February, adding adults are typically more susceptible to the strain than children or the elderly.
ìThat's how it behaved a couple years ago when it first arrived.î
He added he has not heard of anyone in Olds with severe illness and is unaware of anyone being transferred to an intensive care unit due to influenza.
The symptoms of influenza include fever, muscle ache, cough and Hinshaw, Turner and other health officials agreed the current influenza vaccine, which covers the H1N1 strain, is the best way to avoid becoming ill.
The Olds Community Health Centre is holding free influenza immunization clinics on January 10, 13 and 17 by appointment from 9 a.m. to 3:50 p.m.
The centre, which is located at Suite 103 5030 50 St., reported spaces for these clinics are filling fast.
Call 403-556-8441 for an appointment.
Flu shots are also available at most local pharmacies for free during business hours.
All a person needs is their Alberta health card and roughly 10 to 15 minutes after the vaccine is administered for observation.
The provincial health ministry is reporting only one in five Albertans and only 49 per cent of health-care workers received the flu shot this season.
Turner said these numbers are ìunfortunate.î
ìThe only thing that's going to keep you from getting severe illness with any certainty is going to be a flu shot. That's the decision people have to make and it's definitely a good idea for yourself and for your family and for the people around you,î he said. ìThere's almost no appreciable risk to getting one.î
