Flu circulating 'quite strongly' in Yukon, say health officials

Yukon continues to suffer through a bad flu season this year, with 144 confirmed cases so far this winter.

"All the indications are that flu continues to circulate quite strongly," said Dr. Brendan Hanley, the territory's chief medical officer of health.

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He says 17 people have been hospitalizedso far with flu symptoms ("certainly a high number for us"), and the number continues to rise. Most of those people have underlying medical conditionssuch as respiratory disease.

Yukon normally sees an average of seven flu hospitalizations over the entire 52-week flu season.

Flu season started early this year in Yukon, with some cases confirmed even before the first vaccination clinics last fall. Hanley says the rest of Canada is now just "catching up to what we've been experiencing."

The N.W.T., however, has so far not been hit hard. According to the territory's health officials, there have been only six lab-confirmed cases in N.W.T., although they admit that's likely only a fraction of the total number of infections.

'A long winter ahead of us'

The dominant strain this yearis H3N2, a more severe strain of influenza. When it first surfaced in 2014 it killed more than 500 Canadians and put about 7,700 people in the hospital.

The virus is covered by this year's vaccination.

ButHanleysays he wouldn't be surprised if another strain appears before the season is over.

"I think we're going to see it circulating around here for a while," he said."It's yet a long winter ahead of us and potentially lots of flu still ahead of us."

Hanley urges people to get the flu shot, if they haven't already. He also advises people to seek medical attention if flu symptoms are particularly severe for example, difficulty breathing, or a prolonged fever.