Manitoba Health has reported a recent spike in flu activity across the province and said the dominant strain is H1N1.

The same Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus caused a global pandemic in 2009 and claimed several hundred lives.

In a letter dated to health care providers on March 3, the Public Health and Primary Health Care Division wrote, “This current wave of influenza activity is expected to last several weeks.”

Influenza surveillance data released at 11 a.m. March 4 showed statistics from the week of February 21 – 27. It showed that 21 people were hospitalized due to the flu, seven required intensive care and two died.

In both cases, the deceased was under the age of 65. The province has not indicated where in Manitoba they lived.

New data is expected Friday morning.

Manitoba Health said health care providers can continue to offer the flu vaccine to all Manitobans at no charge.

It said preliminary estimates of vaccine effectiveness from the United States suggest vaccines available in Manitoba are on average 60% effective against all circulating strains, and 99 per cent of all H1N1 strains tested to date have been sensitive to the antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir.

Its numbers show 150 units of oseltamivir were dispensed from community retail pharmacies the week of Feb. 21.

The same day the influenza surveillance data was released, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority announced visitor restrictions at Children’s Hospital.

It said the hospital was seeing an increase in numbers of Influenza A, though did not mention H1N1.