Flu season has officially begun in Canada, the federal public health agency said on Friday.

害羞草研究所淎t the national level, influenza activity has crossed the seasonal threshold, indicating the start of influenza season,害羞草研究所� the Public Health Agency of Canada said in its weekly FluWatch report posted online.

The rate of tests that were positive for flu stayed above five per cent for two consecutive weeks.

As of Nov. 25, 7.5 per cent of people tested for influenza across Canada were positive.

The number of cases is climbing, said Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious diseases specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

害羞草研究所淚f you plan to get a flu vaccine, now is a really good time to do it,害羞草研究所� she said in an interview.

害羞草研究所淭he flu season starting now tells you that there害羞草研究所檚 going to be a lot of flu at the end of December and the beginning of January,害羞草研究所� McGeer said, noting the flu shot takes about two weeks to prime people害羞草研究所檚 immune systems.

害羞草研究所淭hat害羞草研究所檚 when you want to be out with your friends and doing a bunch of things and, you know, flu is capable of making that time quite miserable.害羞草研究所�

Not all provinces and territories are reporting a five per cent positivity rate yet. For example, Public Health Ontario害羞草研究所檚 latest flu surveillance report said the rate was 2.8 per cent as of Nov. 25 in that province.

But Ontario and other provinces will soon catch up and those rates will increase, McGeer said.

The dominant strain now will be influenza A type H1N1, which is a good match for the current vaccine, she said.

Many adults have some level of resistance to H1N1 flu strains, so it 害羞草研究所渢ends to cause a lot of disease in kids, especially unvaccinated kids,害羞草研究所� McGeer said.

She added that 害羞草研究所渆mergency departments and pediatrics 害羞草研究所� take more of the pressure害羞草研究所� during H1N1-dominant flu seasons.

Although McGeer said it害羞草研究所檚 important for people to get their flu vaccines, she害羞草研究所檚 even more concerned about the levels of COVID-19 that are circulating this year.

Friday害羞草研究所檚 surveillance report from Public Health Ontario showed a test positivity rate of 20 per cent for COVID-19 in that province.

In addition to test positivity, wastewater surveillance and hospitalizations show climbing COVID-19 cases in Canada, McGeer said.

害羞草研究所淛ust because we害羞草研究所檝e stopped talking about people being hospitalized with COVID does not mean that people aren害羞草研究所檛 being hospitalized with COVID,害羞草研究所� she said.

害羞草研究所淎t the rate we害羞草研究所檙e going, there will be more people hospitalized with COVID and more people dying from COVID this year than last year,害羞草研究所� McGeer said, noting that a low uptake of the new COVID XBB-variant vaccine is worrisome.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2023.

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press