Ont. flu cases up by 1,500 in 2 weeks

Ontario hospitals are working together in an "unprecedented" way to cope with the crush of patients with flu-like symptoms, Health Minister Deb Matthews said Wednesday.

Hospitals are doing everything they can to stay on top of the flu season, with patients jamming emergency departments in places like London and Toronto, she said.

According to officials, there have been 2,518 confirmed cases of influenza in Ontario so far, up from 1,075 cases reported two weeks ago.

"There's no question, we've had a lower vaccination rate this year than in past years, and we're seeing the result in our emergency departments today," Matthews said.

In the minister's hometown of London, Ont., hospital officials are warning that wait times in emergency rooms are too long and there aren't enough beds for patients.

Officials at the University and Victoria hospitals are considering cancelling surgeries, and are asking patients with minor injuries to go to their family doctor or a walk-in clinic for treatment.

Hospitals are doing what they can to avoid putting off surgeries, Matthews said.

Some hospitals that don't have space to take in more patients are transferring people to other facilities that have the room, she said.

"Our hospitals are working very hard to work with the increased pressure, and by-and-large, they're doing a very, very good job," she said

"There haven't been any ambulance bypass alerts out there. They are functioning, but they are functioning with very high volumes."

The province is monitoring the situation closely and following where the outbreaks are occurring, Matthews said.

"I'm pleased — very pleased actually — with how the hospitals have been able to respond," she added.

"They're working together in a way that is unprecedented, helping each other out."

Ontario can expect to see a second wave of the flu, but it's not too late to protect yourself, Matthews said.

She's urging everyone who hasn't received their flu shot to get the vaccine as soon as possible.

The province has five million doses of the vaccine and about four million have been distributed, she said.

However, the latest estimates suggest that just over 20 per cent of people have received the flu shot, she said.

The uptake is usually around 35 per cent. During last year's H1N1 pandemic, it was 45 per cent.

Medical officials have speculated that some people aren't getting the shot because they feel "pandemic-ed out" after last year. Others say they just don't have time in their busy lives to get the flu shot.

Officials say getting the pandemic vaccine last year won't protect you from this year's H3N2 influenza, which is particularly hard on the very young and the very old as well as pregnant women.

Ya. That's because EVERYTHING that has "flu like symptoms" is classified and diagnosed as the FLU or whatever pandemic they're pushing at the time.

It's all a bunch of BS. Getting a flu shot of ANY kind, doesn't matter what friggin strain, will only harm you and potentially give you whatever 'illness' they're telling you they're protecting you from, or it'll do even worse than that and give you something possibly life threatening as there have been many cases of that in the recent past.

Oh, so Ontario's flu diagnosis was up, well that's because A) people went to the doctor for a sniffle or a cough, and/or B) they got their flu shot!!!!!!!

People won't learn until it's too late. I'm not shutting up about this. DON'T GET YOUR FLU SHOT! DON'T GET VACCINATED AGAINST ANYTHING!
Your bodies best defense is to let it naturally ward off illness, if it doesn't, it becomes reliant upon what you've put in your system to prevent it and your body will never be immune, no matter how many injections you get that they tell you will make your body fight it. It's Bullshit!

Oh yeah,

Children and the Elderly are the most susceptible to getting sick and/or dying from vaccines/immunizations!

Remember the medical professionals have plausible deniability on any of these medical procedures they perform on us. They will never admit to a problem, with the vaccines, because first of all they don't know, second if they do know they know that nobody would believe that giant corporations are trying to kill people on purpose. People are more likely to believe the simplest answer than the more complex answer of a giant global conspiracy. Plausible deniability!

Yup and even if people begin to believe in the bigger conspiracy call them idiots and ridicule them, target their egos, then they will back down. Humiliation is the game!!