During week 8, overall influenza activity remained at approximately the same level as last week and all influenza indicators were still considerably below expected levels for this time of the year.
Of the 2,646 specimens tested for influenza in week 8, 7 (0.26%) were positive of which 6 (86%) were for influenza A and one (14%) was positive for influenza B. Of the 5 influenza A viruses that were subtyped, all were pandemic H1N1 2009.
Respiratory syncytial virus detections were still high but the proportion of positive detections declined to 24.0% for the first time since the beginning of 2010 in week 8.
32 hospitalized cases (QC & NL), 23 ICU admissions (BC, ON & NL) and one death (ON) with pandemic H1N1 2009 were reported this week. However, the majority were retrospective cases that occurred during either the first or second wave. Only the one hospitalized case in QC and the death in ON occurred during week 8. Since the beginning of 2010, only 10 hospitalizations and two deaths have occurred.