While health authorities in Quebec expect the flu season to begin just before the holiday season, The virus has already reached the rest of Canada.
The ever-increasing data on the virus in Quebec is also leading some experts to believe that flu season has already begun.
Data from the Quebec Public Health Institute (INSPQ) clearly shows that influenza cases have increased in the last three weeks. There were 37 cases in the week ending November 4th. That number rose to 50 cases the following week, then to 93 cases, before increasing to 139 cases in the week ending November 25.
According to the Ministry of Health and Social Care (MSSS), this increase curve is “typical of the behavior of the virus at this time of year”. However, it notes that “several indicators will be taken into account to determine the start of the flu season” and that this “has not yet been announced” but will happen “very soon”.
According to the MSSS, flu activity was considered “low” in the week ending November 25, but the spread was increasing.
Benoit Mâsse, a professor in the department of social and preventive medicine at the School of Public Health at the Université de Montréal, explained that the start of the flu season is determined when a screening test positivity threshold of 5 percent is reached in a few consecutive weeks . This threshold was met in Canada but not in Quebec. In his opinion, it won’t be long before that happens.
Public health experts therefore recommend that people at risk of complications from influenza and those around them get vaccinated.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 29, 2023.
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