Sask. flu season kills more than 3 times as many people as previous year

Saskatchewan's latest flu season sawmore than three times as many deaths as the previous year, along with a 68.7 per centincrease in the overall number of flu sufferers.

There were13 deaths due to influenza from Sept. 1, 2017 to March 31 of this year, compared to four during a similar span a year previous,according to a provincial government report.

Overall during that period there were 3,207 lab-confirmed cases of influenza, up from 1,901.

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People aged 20-64 made up the most cases, but people 65 and higher had the highest number of cases per capita.

There were 80 outbreaks in long-term care facilities compared to 70 from last year.

The report said 48 cases this season were considered severe, compared to 21 in 2016-17.

Earlier in the flu seasonDr. Denise Werker,deputychief medical officer with the government of Saskatchewan,said the only oddity about this year's seasonis that both A and B strains are present.

H3N2predominant flu strain

The Ministry of Health confirmed the primarystrain of this year's flu season was H3N2.

In a statement they said, "Hospitalizations and deaths in the 2017-18 influenza season was similar to other years where H3N2 is the predominant strain."

The statement also said, "2017-18 season was similar to 2007-08 season and earlier years where Influenza B started early."

Flu season numbers for this year were recorded from Sept. 1to March 31, whereas last year's numbers were recorded from Sept.1to April 15.

The number of cases are usually underestimated as not all people who seek medical care are tested for flu. Likewise, the number of cases for recent cases will likely increase as more lab results are accounted for, according to the report.