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The Public Health Agency of Canada produces a weekly influenza summary called FluWatch, which is very similar to the US FluView report from the CDC. In it you will find maps, charts, and summaries of the previous week’s influenza surveillance.
As in the United States, Canada’s flu numbers this reporting week were declining.
Due to the holidays, this latest report is for week 50, and so the numbers are lagging a week behind the latest US reports (week 51).
A few excerpts from this week’s report (ending December 19th), but follow the FluWatch link to read it in its entirety.
Summary of FluWatch Findings for the Week ending December 19, 2009
- On week 50, low levels of influenza activity were reported across Canada and all the influenza indicators had declines for at least five consecutive weeks.
- The ILI consultation rate was below the expected range for this time of the year and only 3.7% of the specimens tested were positive for influenza. The Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 strain still accounted for nearly 100% of the positive influenza A subtyped specimens this week.
- The number of hospitalized cases (79 vs. 159), ICU admissions (21 vs. 40) and deaths (11 vs. 21) reported this week are about half of those reported last week, and approximately one quarter of those reported two weeks ago (week 48). Among reporting provinces and territories (PTs) this week, deaths were from BC, AB, SK, ON & QC.
- From August 30 to December 19, 2009, a total of 6,951 hospitalized cases including 1,113 (16.0%) cases admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) as well as 324 (4.7%) deaths had been reported.
Canadian situation
Antigenic Characterization
Since September 1, 2009, the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) has antigenically characterized 554 Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 viruses and 8 seasonal influenza viruses (2 influenza A/H1N1, 5 H3N2, and 1 B virus) that were received from Canadian laboratories.
Of the 554 Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 viruses characterized, 550 (99.3%) were antigenically related to A/California/7/2009, which is the pandemic reference virus selected by WHO as the Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 vaccine. 4 viruses (0.7%) tested showed reduced titer with antisera produced against A/California/7/09.
Of the five seasonal influenza A (H3N2) viruses characterized, one was related to A/Brisbane/10/07, which is the influenza A/H3N2 component recommended for the 2009-10 influenza vaccine and four viruses were antigenically related to A/Perth/16/09, which is the WHO recommended influenza A (H3N2) component for the 2010 Southern Hemisphere vaccine.
Antiviral Resistance
NML: Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 viruses tested so far have been sensitive to zanamivir (619 samples) but resistant to amantadine (665 samples).
Provinces: Nine cases of oseltamivir resistant Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 were reported to date in Canada: one in Alberta, one in Manitoba, four in Ontario, two in Quebec, and one in New Brunswick.
The number of Tamiflu resistant samples, along with a few `low-reactor’ samples (poor matches to the H1N1 vaccine) remain very low, but are important to follow to see if they increase over time.
For now, the vaccine appears to be an excellent match for 99% of the H1N1 virus in circulation, and Tamiflu continues to be an effective antiviral for a similar percentage of patients.
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