Flu outbreak at HSN

Health Sciences North is experiencing a flu outbreak, the hospital reported Wednesday.

Two patients have tested positive for influenza A, the hospital said.

“HSN has taken the necessary infection control precautions and measures, including isolating patients, enhanced cleaning and strict hand hygiene,” the hospital said in a press release.

Health Sciences North also encourages anyone visiting the hospital to take all the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of the flu.

According to HSN, those precautions include getting a flu shot, cleaning hands before and after visiting patients, and wearing a mask when and where necessary.

But according to a study by Canada’s Sentinel Physician Surveillance Network, which includes researchers from a number of Canadian universities and public health agencies, this year's vaccine for the A H3N2 virus, this season's most common influenza virus, offers little to no protection.

“The results of this study are not unexpected,” said the Public Health Agency of Canada. “As flu viruses move through the population, they can change or drift. The time it takes from the start to the finish of a vaccine production, is sometimes sufficient time for the virus to change, which is what happened this year in particular with H3N2.”

But the vaccine has proven to provide protection against circulating A H1N1 and B strains, said the public health agency.