Overall influenza activity has remained low for at least 12 consecutive weeks and all influenza indicators were still considerably below expected levels for this time of the year.
All reporting provinces and territories had similar ILI consultation rates compared to their respective ILI rates in the previous weeks except BC and AB which had higher rates this week.
The proportion of tests that were positive for influenza during week 10 (0.34%, 8/2,383) increased slightly compared to the previous week, but still remained at a very low level for this time of year. Of the eight positive specimens, four (50%) were positive for pandemic H1N1 2009, two (25%) were unsubtyped influenza A and two (25%) were positive for influenza B.
Respiratory syncytial virus detections peaked during week 7 (28.3%), but were still high this week with a proportion of positive tests of 19.7%.
No new hospitalized cases with pandemic H1N1 2009 were reported this week. Since the beginning of 2010, only 10 hospitalizations and two deaths have occurred.
Pandemic influenza virus continued to be the predominant circulating influenza virus worldwide as of week 9, however, circulation of seasonal influenza B viruses continued to increase.