{"id":352434,"date":"2025-12-18T03:16:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T03:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/352434\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T03:16:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T03:16:16","slug":"this-h3n2-flu-strain-is-spreading-rapidly-why-subclade-k-is-hitting-hard-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/352434\/","title":{"rendered":"This H3N2 flu strain is spreading \u2018rapidly.\u2019 Why subclade K is hitting hard – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new strain of H3N2<\/a> influenza is landing a growing number of Canadians in hospital with cases \u201cincreasing rapidly\u201d around the country.<\/p>\n

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All indicators of influenza activity are increasing quickly, with all regions throughout the country reporting growing influenza activity, Health Canada said.<\/p>\n

In the first week of December alone, Canada saw 6,799 cases of the flu detected, with 91 outbreaks across the country. The number of positive tests rose 20.2 per cent compared with the week before.<\/p>\n

More Canadians landed in hospital that week, with 3.6 hospitalizations per 100,000 of population.<\/p>\n

The dominant strain being observed in Canada and the United States is the influenza A(H3N2) strain, including a subvariant \u2014 A(H3N2) subclade K \u2014 the World Health Organization said.<\/p>\n

Children are among those being hit hard, with most infections being detected in people under 19, according to Health Canada.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOvercrowding strains Montreal children\u2019s hospitals as flu cases surge\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

In Ottawa, three children between the ages of five and nine have died from influenza A-related complications, with the city\u2019s health officials urging anyone over the age of six months to get vaccinated.<\/p>\n

In November, the Children\u2019s Hospital of Eastern Ontario saw eight times more children test positive for influenza compared with the same month last year and double the number of children who needed to be hospitalized with the flu.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe flu is more than a bad\u00a0cold,\u201d the hospital, colloquially known as CHEO, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

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\u201cChildren under five are at a higher risk of severe illness from influenza because they have smaller airways, and their immune systems are still developing. Even healthy kids can become seriously ill, and flu spreads quickly in schools and child-care settings.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In Alberta, hospital emergency rooms are seeing a flood of influenza patients<\/a> as cases in the province have jumped 70 per cent in a week.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNow one in five of all tests that are being done are positive. So that suggests we\u2019re right in the midst of that surge. That number could go higher,\u201d said Dr. Fahad Razak, internal medicine physician and professor at the University of Toronto.<\/p>\n

The surge comes as Canadians are looking to travel to be with family and loved ones for the holidays.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably going to end up being a more severe and a more significant flu season compared to the average flu season,\u201d said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital.<\/p>\n

Canada will likely see more hospitalizations and more pressure on the health-care system, Bogoch added.<\/p>\n

The dominant strain of the virus is causing cases to rise in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere as well.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\tHow are other countries faring?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

In the U.K., the National Health Service said it is currently facing a \u201cworst case scenario\u201d situation for December as flu hospitalizations have surged by more than half in just one week.<\/p>\n

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An average of 2,660 patients per day were in a hospital bed with flu last week \u2013 the highest ever for this time of year and up 55 per cent compared with the week before, the NHS said in a statement<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tCanada sees record population drop, driven by fewer temporary residents\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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In the U.S., influenza infections are growing or likely growing in 43 states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.<\/p>\n

The mutation of the virus is a normal phenomenon, Bogoch said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to pick the appropriate vaccine based on the circulating strain of influenza months in advance so that there\u2019s enough time to mass-produce and then distribute these vaccines. Unfortunately, this virus is prone to mutation, and it mutates every year and we have to constantly update the vaccines,\u201d Bogoch said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlu cases surge in Ontario ahead of the holidays\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Most years, vaccine makers get it mostly right, he said.<\/p>\n

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This year, however, the particular strain has proven trickier than usual.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, the vaccine still works. It just doesn\u2019t work as well as we would like for the H3N2 component,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Subclade K is \u201cenhancing the ability of the virus to slip through some of our immune protections,\u201d Razak said. However, both experts said being vaccinated against the flu could help protect you from the worst effects of the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at deaths and severe illness with flu, the vast majority both in adults and in children are unvaccinated,\u201d Razak said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, you may get sick, even if you are vaccinated, it\u2019s that the severity, the chance that you\u2019re going to end up in hospital and worst-case scenario in the ICU or die does seem to be significantly protected against by being vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vaccinations can prevent anyone infected with influenza from developing further complications, Health Canada said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlu cases surge across Canada\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cStaying up to date with recommended vaccines is one of the most important ways to protect yourself from developing serious complications from respiratory illnesses such as seasonal influenza (the flu), COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Talk to your health care provider or local public health about vaccines that are recommended for you,\u201d a Health Canada spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

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The agency also recommends staying home when sick and wearing a well-fitting respirator or mask in crowded and closed settings.<\/p>\n

Mask-wearing is also recommended for anyone who has more serious complications from a respiratory infection, or spends a lot of time with others who are at risk, such as older people, young children, pregnant women and individuals and people with weakened immune systems, Health Canada said.<\/p>\n

Cleaning your hands regularly, covering coughs and sneezes and cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces and objects can also help, the agency said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new strain of H3N2 influenza is landing a growing number of Canadians in hospital with cases \u201cincreasing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,50363,64229,84,150830],"class_list":["post-352434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-flu","tag-h3n2","tag-health","tag-subclade-k"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}