Flu season has officially arrived in the Northwest, as the region's health unit has confirmed cases of influenza in the Sioux Lookout, Atikokan, and Kenora areas.
The manager of infectious diseases for the Northwestern Health Unit, Donna Stanley, said in an email to NWOnewswatch the lab confirmed cases were detected over the weekend.
“We weren’t aware of lab-confirmed influenza before that,” she said.
Stanley added influenza often shows up this time of year in the region and other parts of Ontario.
“Prior to the pandemic we would normally see sporadic cases at this time of year and usually would see the highest amount of influenza activity around the last few weeks of December and into early January.”
The COVID-19 pandemic really curtailed influenza activity in 2021, according to Stanley.
“[It] was very low with a rate of just over two cases per 100,000 compared to an average rate of 120 cases per 100,000 people between 2015 and 2019,” she said.
Stanley added there were some positive influenza tests this past summer, “which is unusual, but frequently these resulted from individuals being tested prior to admission to hospital.” She said before the pandemic, testing patients with no viral symptoms for the flu prior to admission to hospital wasn’t normal.
Influenza can spread before a person is aware of symptoms, Stanley said.
“Sometimes, people may feel non-specific symptoms, such as feeling tired or achy, and they may not realize it is an early symptom of a virus like influenza, COVID-19 or the common cold, and can spread the virus,” she said.
“When a person is exposed to a virus, the virus reproduces itself until there is enough virus to cause the person to feel sick,” she added. “That means during the day or two before symptoms are apparent the amount of virus present is almost at its highest.”
The health unit said symptoms of influenza may include fever, chills and shakes, headache, muscle aches, sore throat, cough, extreme fatigue, and nasal or sinus congestion. Some people, especially children, may experience vomiting or get diarrhea.
The health unit suggested people can protect themselves and others from influenza by getting the flu shot, staying home when feeling unwell, masking when household members are sick, and avoiding visits to hospitals or long-term care facilities if feeling unwell.
