Alberta records highest number of weekly new flu cases in 14 years

With one week left of fall until it's officially winter — and the Christmas holidays soon after — the number of people in Alberta becoming sick with influenza is the highest it’s been since October 2009.

'Tis the season to be newly sick with the flu — last week in numbers not seen in 14 years.

With one week left of fall until it's officially winter — and the Christmas holidays soon after — the number of people in Alberta becoming sick with influenza is the highest it’s been since October 2009.

According to Alberta Health data, the week of Dec. 3 saw 1,800 people become sick with laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza.

That tops the 1,778 people in the province who became sick with flu the week of Oct. 25, 2009. Last year, the peak number of new influenza cases peaked at 1,572 the week of Nov. 13.

So far this season, 5,848 Albertans have come down with the respiratory illness, 5,159 or 88 per cent of them with the H1N1 strain.

Pharmacist Shivali Sharma told CTV News Edmonton the Shoppers Drug Mart location she owns in Edmonton's Windermere neighbourhood is seeing a "large increase" in the number of people looking for medication and remedies for respiratory ailments.

"We're getting a lot of people coming in, picking up medication for family members, loved ones, friends that can't leave the house because they're too sick," Sharma said. "We're also starting to see an uptick in people coming in to get vaccinated as well as more and more people are falling ill with flu, with COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses this season."