The province added more than 500 cases from Oct. 30 to Nov. 5, with 146 of them resulting in hospitalization. That’s a dramatic increase from the previous week, when just 50 Albertans required medical attention. Young children and teenagers make up a large part of the boom. Sixty-two of the 142 people currently hospitalized are under the age of 20, or 42 percent. “There are a lot of kids missing from classes right now,” said Medeana Moussa with Our Student Support in Alberta. “And when we see those high absenteeism numbers, it means teachers have to work overtime and students are left behind. When those sick students come back into the classroom, there’s work to be done.” In the 2021-22 flu season, a similar number of total flu cases had not been reached by the end of April. This could be a grim sign of the pattern to expect as the fall and winter progress. “We personally had our kids home sick throughout the fall season and that left a lot of families (like us) scrambling,” Musa said. “I think we’ve gotten used to it over the last four years, but we shouldn’t be.” Some believe the increase could be a side effect of pandemic health measures. “Because there wasn’t a lot of these viruses circulating during the pandemic — it shut down most respiratory viruses when all the precautions were in place — there are far fewer partially immunized people,” said infectious disease specialist Lynora Saxinger. “And so when things come back, they really start with a roar. We saw it with RSV, now we’re seeing it with the flu.” The good news? By now, we should be familiar with ways to help our bodies cope. “Get the flu shot,” Saxinger said. “You can even get it in one hand and a vaccine for COVID-19 in the other.” About 15 per cent of Albertans have received a flu shot. That’s a decrease from last year. “The flu is not a cold,” Saxinger added. “It’s a serious disease for some, and it’s a miserable disease for many.”
