The second wave of H1N1 influenza has likely reached a plateau in Southern and Central British Columbia, health experts said Thursday in Victoria.
The number of flu patients visiting doctors’ offices has levelled off and the number of H1N1 tests and prescriptions for the anti-viral Tamiflu medication is holding steady, said Dr. Perry Kendall, B.C.’s provincial health officer.
“For the last two weeks, hospitalizations (from flu) have been in the same ballpark,” said Kendall during a conference call.
“It doesn’t mean that they might (not) take off again, but we’re hopeful they won’t.”
H1N1 influenza, however, is still increasing in the North, and Kendall warned that there is nothing to suggest that the H1N1 flu is decreasing yet in Southern and Central B.C.
He still encourages people to get vaccinated against the virus.
“Even if, as I hope, we are seeing a levelling off, there is no way to tell how long the plateau will last and we would expect to see … a similar number of cases on the downside of the slope as we saw on the upside.”
