Canadian H1N1 Statistics: confirmed cases, hospitalisations, deaths

I've been following the statistics.

Week 2 are the most recent. FluWatch keeps stats weekly.
They say the worst of it has passed.

• To date this season, 2,298 influenza-associated hospitalizations and 113 deaths have been reported by participating provinces and territories.

According to the Canadian Medical Association Journal (Jan. 14/14):

DOI:10.1503/cmaj.109-4701

The worrisome factor at this point "is the reported mortality rate in Alberta," says Dr. Pierre Lebel, an infectious disease specialist at the McGill University Health Centre in Montréal, Que. As of Jan. 13, there were 10 confirmed deaths in Alberta attributed to type A (H1N1) influenza, as well as 1 in British Columbia, 6 in Saskatchewan, 6 in Ontario, 1 in Quebec and 2 in Nova Scotia.

The CMA tells us that while H1N1 has shown up in Canada again, it's no where near what it was in 2009. Normally, seasonal flu will strike 20,000 who must go into hospital. Normally, between 4,000 and 8,000 people die each year from flu. So far, this season,
"Since the start of the 2013-14 season to January 4, 2014, 33 deaths have been reported from participating provinces and territories: three cases under 20 years of age and thirty cases 20 years of age or older."
It's really difficult to find up-to-date info, with FluWatch.ca being at least a week behind.
The reports of deaths (text vs. graph) from influenza are contradicted on its site:

Graphs of flu deaths over time

Total deaths 317?

After killing 248,000 people worldwide in 2009, this year (2013/14) Europe is seeing H3N2 as predominant. There are many mysteries around influenza.

It's very interesting to see how the number of cases doesn't match for population sizes. Ontario, with a population of 12.8m has about 2600 confirmed flu cases; Alberta, with only 1/3 the population, has nearly as many cases: 2340.

	Week 2
FLU 2014	TYPE A	A + B
Provinces	Cases			Population
Ontario	2590	2646		12.8m
Alberta	2332	2357		3.6m
Quebec	1410	1669
B.C.	887	908		4.6m
Saskatchewan	725	726		1m
Manitoba	120	129
Newfoundland	82	108
N.B.	235	236		0.75m
N.S.	30	30		0.9m
PEI	1	1
Canada	8412	8810		35m

Here is week 1 (Dec. 29 -  Jan.4).

It's move into the Outawois, southern Quebec.
And widespread in Alberta.

Hopefully, it will peak soon.
You can see the differences between hospitalisation rates and deaths back when H1N1 first confronted us.

We have learned lessons, and it appears that the vaccines have been working pretty well.

Influenza Surveillance

To see where the flu is active in Canada, visit the FluWatch web site. FluWatch produces weekly influenza surveillance reports from October to May and bi-weekly reports from June to September each year.

• FluWatch web site
• Reported Influenza Hospitalizations and Deaths in Canada: 2009-10 to 2013-14