PROMED: H1N1 British Columbia

INFLUENZA (02): CANADA (BRITISH COLUMBIA), H1N1, HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS ********************************************************************** A ProMED-mail post ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases Date: Sun 5 Jan 2014 Source: CBC [edited] Dr. Paul Van Buynder, with Fraser Health, said Friday [3 Jan 2014] that 15 patients, many of them otherwise healthy young people, were recently admitted to intensive care units in hospitals in the region. By Sunday [5 Jan 2014], he added 5 more to the total for those in intensive care in B.C., where at least 40 people have been hospitalized due to H1N1 influenza this season [2013-14]. Fraser Health says an outbreak of H1N1 flu has sent at least 40 people in B.C. to hospital, with around half of them ending up in intensive care units. "It is a lot for us at this particular time, especially because there is not a lot of circulating disease in the community at this point, and so we're worried that this has happened to so many people so quickly," he said. He said the ages of the patients turning up with H1N1 flu span the spectrum, and include those in their 30s. He also said at least one of the patients is pregnant, and also that one person may have died from this flu strain. "I have one person who hasn't been confirmed, but I'm pretty sure did pass away from this," Van Buynder told CBC News. "People should always be concerned about influenza in winter. It does kill people. It makes people very ill." Van Buynder said medical officials are seeing small pockets of H1N1 breaking out across the region, in a pattern mirroring the flu's spread in Alberta, Ontario, and Texas. Alberta's Health Minister Fred Horne said last week that there have been 965 lab-confirmed cases; another 251 people have been hospitalized due to influenza, and 5 people have died so far this flu season [2013-14]. In Ontario, 6 people are believed to have died from H1N1 influenza, and 3 have died from the virus in Saskatchewan.