Manitoba Health and Healthy Living is reporting two deaths associated with H1N1 influenza in Manitoba. One of the deaths was a man in his 40s from the Winnipeg health region who had been hospitalized and had no known significant underlying health conditions. The second was a woman in her 40s from the NOR-MAN health region who had been hospitalized and had significant underlying conditions. These are the first reported deaths associated with H1N1 flu in Manitoba.
There are 74 new confirmed cases of H1N1 flu, bringing the Manitoba total to 226 reported laboratory-confirmed cases.
The call to action for health-care workers in northern Manitoba is continuing. Two additional nurse practitioners have been working in a northern community. Three additional doctors will travel north this week. Additional staff responding to the call to action include two more nurse practitioners, 13 nurses and 10 medical residents. Logistical issues surrounding the supervision of medical residents and licences continue to be addressed.
Interested physician and nurses can indicate their interest in working in northern communities that need additional resources by visiting the flu website at www.manitoba.ca where there will be a Physicians and Nurses Needed button.
All Manitobans are at risk for exposure to the H1N1 virus. The influenza outbreak is provincewide and it is likely that H1N1 is present in every community in Manitoba. Although there has been an increase in the number of people with severe respiratory illness, this has been a small proportion of the people who have had “the flu” in Manitoba in the last two months. The majority of people in Manitoba who have become ill have not required hospitalization.
In Manitoba, there continues to be no public health reason to close schools, community centres or other public gathering places or to avoid travel to any community. There also has not been a public health reason to exclude people from any public setting based on their ethnic background or home community. The same basic precautions are still the best defense against H1N1 influenza, no matter where you are or who you are with.
