Ottawa: Several cases of influenza have been reported across Canada in the past few weeks. Most of these cases are of influenza B. This information was given by Canada Fluwatch.
The report, which comes weekly and tracks flu cases across Canada, said a total of 510 cases of influenza, which were detected in laboratories, were reported in the 13th week of 2023.
Of these confirmed flu cases, 364 were of influenza B and the remaining 146 were of influenza A.
This means that influenza B is currently spreading rapidly and is responsible for 71 per cent of influenza cases.
Compared to last year, this strain is currently spreading at a much higher level. During the flu season at the end of 2022, most of the cases were of influenza A and the case of influenza B was rarely reported anywhere. During March-April last year, only four cases of influenza B were reported, while 1283 cases of influenza A were recorded. In the 13th week, 15 children were hospitalized due to influenza and 14 of these were cases of influenza B.