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Coughing and sniffling have started picking up across Saskatchewan later in the winter season than normal.
Chief Medical Health Officer for Saskatchewan Dr. Saqib Shahab joined the Evan Bray Show to discuss the late-hitting flu season.
He said that influenza is peaking later in the season than it normally does.
“Last year influenza came in November and peaked at the end of December,” said Shahab. “This year influenza really started picking up at the end of December and is only peaking now.”
Shahab said mostly young people are being hit with the virus.
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“University students who are less likely to get the influenza vaccine, many of them spend the whole university break unwell with influenza,” he explained. “Many young children got influenza… people who are younger are less likely to get the flu vaccine every year.”
Shahab said over half the people over the age of 65 got vaccinated for the flu this year.
Flu shots are still available to the public and Shahab said it’s important to stay up to date on your vaccines.
The Community Respiratory Illness Surveillance Program (CRISP) report was recently released by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
The CRISP report is released bi-weekly during the winter.
Shahab said the report is a useful tool to know what illnesses are going around.
“Early in the fall, it was mostly COVID and then RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus) picked up,” said Shahab. “Now COVID has gone down quite a bit, RSV has gone down quite a bit and it’s almost all influenza.”
Walking pneumonia has also caught the attention of medical personnel in Saskatchewan. The virus isn’t caused by the typical pneumonia pathogens.
“We think about it (pneumonia) as when you get chest pain, you’re short of breath and you’re really ill,” said Shahab. “That’s bacterial pneumonia that needs antibiotics for a few days.”
Shahab said walking pneumonia isn’t as severe as normal pneumonia.
“(You) will have a cough for a few weeks, we won’t get too much of a fever that’s why it’s called walking pneumonia,” he said.
Shahab said if you do have symptoms that do get worse, it’s recommended that you go to the hospital.
