Microbiologist encourages vaccinations as Sask. flu numbers rise

Vaccination rates are low for influenza in Saskatchewan as the number of lab-confirmed flu cases skyrocket.

The latest Community Respiratory Illness Surveillance Program (CRISP) report from Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Health showed that as of Nov. 18, only 18.9 per cent of the province’s residents have received their flu shots this season.

As well, only 14.7 per cent of people six months of age or older have received their COVID-19 vaccine since Sept. 18.

Dr. Joseph Blondeau, the head of clinical microbiology at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, has a clear message for people in the province.

“There has to be value in getting immunized in order to protect yourself and family and I’d like to see those numbers get higher,” said Blondeau.

The low immunization rates could be due to vaccine fatigue, he explained. He said vaccines are an essential tool to protect yourself and advises everyone to book an appointment.

The report showed that COVID-19 numbers are around the same as they were in the previous two weeks. But the test positivity rate for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) also made a notable jump, from 0.9 per cent to 1.6 per cent in less than a month.

The most alarming jump among the data was in cases of influenza type A.

The number of lab-confirmed flu cases rose from 42 in the week of Oct. 22-28 to 594 in the week ending Nov. 18. The test positivity rate for influenza also rose from 4.4 per cent to 31.0 per cent in the same time frame.

Blondeau isn’t shocked by the high numbers, saying he predicted this earlier in the year.

“We were expecting that this was probably going to be a challenging respiratory season. We expected that our numbers would be up,” he said.

On top of low immunization rates, there are a few reasons why the numbers look the way they do.

“Probably the biggest one was that we didn’t have much respiratory activity other than COVID for the last couple of years because of all the COVID-19 restrictions that were in place (like) distancing, masking and no mass gatherings,” said Blondeau.

The CRISP report also noted five influenza-related deaths between Nov. 5-18, which according to Blondeau isn’t alarming.

“We do expect unfortunately to see deaths associated with influenza, which again is another argument for being immunized,” he said.

Other practices Blondeau encourages include washing your hands often, staying home when you’re sick, avoiding symptomatic people, and masking in large gatherings or when you can’t social distance.

For the full CRISP report, click here.