Number of people hospitalized with flu in Calgary nearly doubles in 1 week

The number of people admitted to hospital from the flu in Calgary has nearly doubled since last week

There have been 147 Calgarians admitted to hospital with the flu as of Wednesday — up from 80 just one week before, according to Alberta Health Services.

In Edmonton, 29 people were hospitalized with the flu, up from 21 the previous week, and a total of 205 people across the province have been admitted so far this season.

From Aug. 26 until Nov. 10, 830,376 people across the province had received their flu shots, 349,972 of which were in Calgary and 301,748 in Edmonton.

There have been no deaths in Alberta associated to the flu so far this season.

Last year, less than 30 per cent of Albertans got immunized; 92 people died and 3,047 were admitted ot hospital.

Experts have stressed the vaccine this year is a strong match and have urged people to get immunized to protect the health of those who are immunodeficient, elderly or too young to get the vaccine.

The vaccine is available in Calgary at these four clinics:

• Northgate, A154-495 36th Street N.E.
• Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, 1820 Richmond Road S.W.
• Brentwood Village Mall, 302-3630 Brentwood Road N.W.
• South Calgary Health Centre, 31 Sunpark Plaza S.E.

The clinics will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays until March. Vaccines are available free of charge to anyone over six months of age.

Vaccines are also available at walk-in clinics, pharmacies and doctors offices across the province.

• MORE CALGARY NEWS | Licence plates have now joined the Battle of Alberta between Flames and Oilers
• MORE CALGARY NEWS | Calgary looks to expropriate 35 acres of land for Airport Trail interchanges
• Read more articles by CBC Calgary, like us on Facebook for updates and subscribe to our CBC Calgary newsletter for the day's news at a glance