H1N1 influenza put another 93 British Columbians in hospital last week, but the peak now seems clearly over.
According to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's Surveillance Update published late this morning, total hospitalizations for H1N1 rose from 864 to 957 between November 23 and November 30.
Eight persons died of the disease: 4 in Fraser Health, 2 in Interior Health, and 2 in Vancouver Island Health. They brought the provincial total to 42.
The surveillance analysis showed 90 percent of patients who died of H1N1 had at least one underlying health condition. Half of all H1N1 deaths were of patients aged 45 to 64.
While the number of deaths was higher last week than in the two previous weeks, the overall number of hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths has dropped from just over 200 in Week 44 a month ago to about 100 in Week 47.
Crawford Kilian is a contributing editor of The Tyee.
