FluWatch report: November 5 to November 11, 2023 (week 45)

On this page

• Influenza/influenza-like illness activity - Geographic spread
• Laboratory-confirmed influenza detections
• Syndromic / influenza-like illness surveillance
• Influenza outbreak surveillance
• Influenza severe outcomes surveillance
• Influenza strain characterization
• Antiviral resistance
• Influenza vaccine monitoring
• Provincial and international surveillance links

Influenza/influenza-like illness activity - Geographic spread

In week 45, 24 regions across Canada reported sporadic influenza activity and 12 regions in six provinces reported localized influenza activity (N.L., N.S., Ont., Sask., Alta., and B.C.) (Figure 1). The number of regions reporting influenza activity and the intensity of reported activity is increasing. A total of 11 regions in Canada reported no activity this week.

Number of Regions Reporting in week 45: 47 out of 53

Figure 1 - Text description

Province	Influenza Surveillance Region	Activity Level
N.L.	Eastern	Localized
N.L.	Labrador-Grenfell	No Activity
N.L.	Central	Localized
N.L.	Western	Sporadic
P.E.I.	Prince Edward Island	No Data
N.S.	Zone 1 - Western	Sporadic
N.S.	Zone 2 - Northern	Localized
N.S.	Zone 3 - Eastern	Sporadic
N.S.	Zone 4 - Central	Sporadic
N.B.	Region 1	Sporadic
N.B.	Region 2	No Activity
N.B.	Region 3	No Activity
N.B.	Region 4	No Activity
N.B.	Region 5	No Activity
N.B.	Region 6	No Activity
N.B.	Region 7	Sporadic
Que.	Nord-est	Sporadic
Que.	Québec et Chaudieres-Appalaches	Sporadic
Que.	Centre-du-Québec	Sporadic
Que.	Montréal et Laval	Sporadic
Que.	Ouest-du-Québec	Sporadic
Que.	Montérégie	Sporadic
Ont.	Central East	Localized
Ont.	Central West	Localized
Ont.	Eastern	Localized
Ont.	North East	Localized
Ont.	North West	Sporadic
Ont.	South West	Sporadic
Ont.	Toronto	Localized
Man.	Northern Regional	No Data
Man.	Prairie Mountain	No Data
Man.	Interlake-Eastern	No Data
Man.	Winnipeg	No Data
Man.	Southern Health	No Data
Sask.	North	Sporadic
Sask.	Central	Localized
Sask.	South	Localized
Alta.	North Zone	Sporadic
Alta.	Edmonton	Sporadic
Alta.	Central Zone	Sporadic
Alta.	Calgary	Localized
Alta.	South Zone	Sporadic
B.C.	Interior	Sporadic
B.C.	Fraser	Sporadic
B.C.	Vancouver Coastal	Localized
B.C.	Vancouver Island	Sporadic
B.C.	Northern	Sporadic
Y.T.	Yukon	No Activity
N.W.T.	North	No Activity
N.W.T.	South	Sporadic
Nvt.	Qikiqtaaluk	No Activity
Nvt.	Kivalliq	No Activity
Nvt.	Kitimeot	No Activity

Laboratory-confirmed influenza detections

The weekly percentage of tests positive for influenza (4.3% in week 45) continues to increase but is within expected levels for this time of year. Influenza activity remains below the seasonal threshold.

The following results were reported from sentinel laboratories across Canada in week 45 (Figures 2 and 3):

• A total of 1,071 laboratory detections (1,038 influenza A and 33 influenza B) were reported.
• Among subtyped influenza A detections (366), 89% (327) were influenza A(H1N1).
• Among detections for which age information was reported (985), 353 (36%) of detections were in individuals aged 0-19 years old. Across adult age groups, similar proportions are being observed: 24%: 20-44 years old, 19%: 45-64 years old , and 21%: 65+ years old.

To date this season (August 27, 2023 to November 11, 2023):

• 3,065 influenza detections were reported, of which 95% (2,897) were influenza A and among subtyped influenza A detections (1,270), influenza A(H1N1) accounted for 84% of detections.
• 2,580 laboratory-confirmed influenza detections with age information were reported, of which 830 (32%) were in individuals aged 0-19 years old and 697 (27%) were in individuals aged 65+ years old (Figure 4).

For more detailed weekly and cumulative influenza data, see the text descriptions for Figures 2 and 3 or the Respiratory Virus Detections in Canada Report.

Number of Laboratories Reporting in week 45: 34 out of 35

Figure 2 - Text description

Surveillance Week	A(Unsubtyped)	A(H3N2)	A(H1N1)	Influenza B	Percent Positive A	Percent Positive B
35	19	26	51	9	0.7	0.1
36	12	11	50	9	0.4	0.1
37	28	14	46	6	0.5	0.0
38	28	15	57	4	0.5	0.0
39	18	10	75	20	0.5	0.1
40	41	20	79	13	0.7	0.1
41	43	11	53	7	0.5	0.0
42	60	15	95	19	0.7	0.1
43	109	28	129	23	1.2	0.1
44	305	54	308	25	2.7	0.1
45	606	39	327	33	4.2	0.1
46	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
47	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
48	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
49	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
50	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
51	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
52	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
2	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
3	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
4	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
5	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
6	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
7	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
8	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
9	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
10	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
11	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
12	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
13	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
14	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
15	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
16	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
17	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
18	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
19	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
20	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
21	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
22	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
23	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
24	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
25	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
26	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
27	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
28	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
29	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
30	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
31	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
32	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
33	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
34	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0

The shaded area represents the maximum and minimum number of influenza tests or percentage of tests positive reported by week from seasons 2014-2015 to 2019-2020. Data from week 11 of the 2019-2020 season onwards are excluded from the historical comparison due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The epidemic threshold is 5% tests positive for influenza. When it is exceeded, and a minimum of 15 weekly influenza detections are reported, a seasonal influenza epidemic is declared.

Figure 3 - Text description

Surveillance Week	Percentage of tests positive, 2023-2024	Percentage of tests positive, 2022-2023	Percentage of tests positive, 2021-2022	Maximum Percentage of Tests Positive	Minimum Percentage of Tests Positive	Average Percentage of Tests Positive
35	0.8	0.2	0.0	1.9	0.1	0.8
36	0.5	0.2	0.0	2.3	0.3	1.1
37	0.5	0.3	0.0	1.8	0.4	1.0
38	0.5	0.5	0.0	2.4	0.6	1.3
39	0.6	0.7	0.0	3.0	0.6	1.7
40	0.7	1.0	0.0	2.3	1.1	1.7
41	0.5	1.4	0.1	3.0	1.3	1.7
42	0.8	2.4	0.1	3.4	0.9	2.2
43	1.3	5.5	0.1	5.3	0.8	2.8
44	2.8	10.8	0.2	8.4	1.2	3.7
45	4.3	16.2	0.1	10.1	1.4	4.6
46	-	20.3	0.2	14.1	1.5	6.0
47	-	24.3	0.2	15.4	1.4	7.7
48	-	24.1	0.3	18.2	0.8	10.6
49	-	21.2	0.3	19.3	1.6	12.9
50	-	17.4	0.3	27.0	2.4	16.4
51	-	12.5	0.2	29.1	3.3	20.0
52	-	8.0	0.1	34.5	4.3	24.4
1	-	4.6	0.1	31.7	5.9	23.5
2	-	2.3	0.1	29.1	7.1	23.0
3	-	1.5	0.1	30.1	12.2	23.7
4	-	1.1	0.1	29.5	15.9	24.0
5	-	1.0	0.0	30.6	19.6	24.9
6	-	1.0	0.0	32.4	17.9	25.0
7	-	0.9	0.0	32.5	16.3	25.1
8	-	1.1	0.1	32.9	17.6	25.2
9	-	1.3	0.1	34.3	16.8	24.4
10	-	1.4	0.2	36.0	16.1	23.3
11	-	1.7	0.3	31.4	16.2	21.4
12	-	1.9	0.9	30.0	15.0	20.1
13	-	2.4	1.5	28.3	14.5	19.6
14	-	2.2	2.5	26.2	12.7	19.1
15	-	2.5	3.9	20.7	12.0	16.3
16	-	2.4	7.0	18.5	11.6	14.5
17	-	2.4	9.7	17.3	9.8	12.8
18	-	2.3	11.3	13.0	7.9	10.3
19	-	2.1	12.6	12.0	5.0	9.0
20	-	2.1	10.4	9.1	3.2	7.2
21	-	1.6	9.8	7.5	3.0	5.6
22	-	1.6	8.4	4.9	2.2	3.9
23	-	1.3	7.0	4.4	0.9	2.9
24	-	1.1	5.0	4.4	0.8	2.3
25	-	1.0	3.0	4.0	0.6	1.9
26	-	0.7	2.3	3.0	0.7	1.8
27	-	0.6	1.2	2.8	0.4	1.4
28	-	0.8	0.8	1.8	0.4	0.9
29	-	0.5	0.7	1.5	0.5	1.1
30	-	0.5	0.4	1.5	0.5	0.9
31	-	0.5	0.3	1.9	0.6	1.1
32	-	0.7	0.2	1.2	0.5	0.9
33	-	0.7	0.2	1.7	0.4	0.9
34	-	0.6	0.2	1.6	0.4	0.9

Laboratory data notes:

Testing for influenza and other respiratory viruses has been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes in laboratory testing practices may affect the comparability of data to previous seasons.

Due to different testing protocols of laboratories across Canada, some influenza A subtype detection counts may not be included in total influenza A detection counts and percent positivity calculations.

Figure 4 - Text description

a) Proportion of influenza A and B by age-group

Age Group	Proportion of Influenza A	Proportion of Influenza A	Total Number Influenza Detections
0 to 4	95.0%	5.0%	358
5 to 19	91.5%	8.5%	472
20 to 44	92.6%	7.4%	530
45 to 64	98.1%	1.9%	523
65+	97.4%	2.6%	697

b) Proportion of subtyped influenza A(H1N1) and A(H3N2) by age-group

Age Group	Proportion of Influenza A	Proportion of Influenza A	Total Number Influenza Detections
0 to 4	87.7%	12.3%	146
5 to 19	92.4%	7.6%	211
20 to 44	80.7%	19.3%	233
45 to 64	90.4%	9.6%	219
65+	79.3%	20.7%	319

Syndromic / influenza-like illness surveillance

Healthcare practitioners sentinel surveillance

In week 45, 1.3% of visits to healthcare professionals were due to influenza-like illness (ILI) (Figure 5). The percentage of visits for ILI has increased but is within expected levels for this time of year.

ILI symptoms are not specific to any one respiratory pathogen and can be due to influenza, or other respiratory viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This makes the percentage of visits for ILI an important indicator of overall respiratory illness morbidity in the community in the presence of co-circulating viruses.

This indicator should be interpreted with caution as there have been a smaller number of sentinels reporting compared to previous seasons.

Number of Sentinels Reporting in week 45: 36

The shaded area represents the maximum and minimum percentage of visits for ILI reported by week from seasons 2014-2015 to 2019-2020. Data from week 11 of the 2019-2020 season onwards are excluded from the historical comparison due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Figure 5 - Text description

Surveillance Week	2023-2024	2022-2023	2021-2022	Average	Min	Max
35	0.5%	0.6%	0.1%	0.6%	0.4%	0.9%
36	0.4%	1.2%	0.2%	0.6%	0.4%	0.9%
37	0.8%	0.6%	0.4%	0.7%	0.5%	1.0%
38	0.8%	0.9%	0.3%	0.7%	0.6%	1.0%
39	0.9%	1.0%	0.4%	0.9%	0.5%	1.2%
40	0.6%	0.5%	0.2%	1.2%	0.8%	1.7%
41	1.6%	1.1%	0.4%	1.7%	0.8%	2.8%
42	1.0%	1.2%	0.5%	1.6%	1.2%	2.1%
43	0.8%	0.9%	0.3%	1.2%	0.8%	1.7%
44	1.3%	0.6%	0.3%	1.2%	0.7%	1.7%
45	1.3%	1.0%	0.4%	1.2%	0.9%	1.5%
46	-	0.9%	0.8%	1.4%	1.2%	1.8%
47	-	0.7%	0.3%	1.6%	1.1%	2.2%
48	-	1.1%	0.5%	1.5%	1.1%	2.2%
49	-	0.9%	0.5%	1.7%	1.0%	2.8%
50	-	1.1%	0.4%	1.5%	1.1%	1.7%
51	-	1.7%	0.5%	1.9%	1.4%	2.7%
52	-	1.5%	0.5%	2.0%	1.0%	3.1%
1	-	2.1%	0.7%	3.4%	1.9%	5.4%
2	-	1.6%	0.4%	3.4%	1.8%	5.7%
3	-	1.4%	0.2%	2.3%	1.3%	3.7%
4	-	0.9%	0.3%	2.0%	1.1%	2.9%
5	-	1.0%	0.2%	2.1%	1.4%	3.1%
6	-	0.7%	0.5%	2.4%	1.4%	4.0%
7	-	0.7%	0.3%	2.4%	0.9%	3.5%
8	-	0.8%	0.2%	2.3%	0.8%	3.4%
9	-	0.7%	0.2%	2.3%	0.9%	3.1%
10	-	0.9%	0.2%	2.0%	1.0%	2.8%
11	-	0.6%	0.2%	1.9%	1.1%	2.8%
12	-	0.8%	0.3%	1.6%	0.6%	2.6%
13	-	1.2%	0.4%	1.6%	1.1%	2.6%
14	-	1.1%	0.2%	1.7%	1.1%	3.0%
15	-	1.2%	0.3%	1.3%	0.9%	1.9%
16	-	1.5%	0.3%	1.2%	0.8%	1.7%
17	-	1.3%	0.4%	1.2%	0.7%	1.7%
18	-	1.8%	0.5%	1.3%	0.5%	2.0%
19	-	1.7%	0.3%	0.9%	0.6%	1.3%
20	-	1.5%	0.5%	1.1%	0.6%	1.5%
21	-	1.4%	0.3%	0.9%	0.5%	1.3%
22	-	1.0%	0.3%	0.7%	0.3%	1.0%
23	-	1.1%	0.2%	0.8%	0.6%	1.0%
24	-	1.3%	0.2%	0.7%	0.6%	1.0%
25	-	1.0%	0.2%	0.6%	0.4%	0.8%
26	-	0.8%	0.2%	0.8%	0.5%	1.4%
27	-	1.7%	0.3%	0.6%	0.5%	0.7%
28	-	1.0%	0.1%	0.7%	0.5%	1.3%
29	-	0.9%	0.3%	0.9%	0.6%	1.7%
30	-	1.3%	0.2%	0.6%	0.2%	0.9%
31	-	0.9%	0.2%	0.4%	0.2%	0.6%
32	-	0.9%	0.2%	0.8%	0.3%	1.2%
33	-	0.8%	0.3%	0.7%	0.4%	1.3%
34	-	1.0%	0.5%	0.7%	0.4%	1.5%

FluWatchers

In week 45, 9,210 participants reported to FluWatchers, of which 1.9% reported symptoms of cough and fever (Figure 6). The percentage of FluWatchers reporting cough and fever has increased but is within expected levels for this time of year.

The reports of cough and fever are not specific to any one respiratory pathogen and can be due to influenza, or other respiratory viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This makes the proportion of individuals reporting cough and fever an important indicator of overall respiratory illness activity in the community in the presence of co-circulating viruses.

FluWatchers reporting is not impacted by changes in health services or health seeking behaviours.

Among the 174 participants who reported cough and fever:

• 21% consulted a healthcare professional.
• 79% reported days missed from work or school, resulting in an average of 2.9 missed days from work or school among those 137 participants.

The Northwest Territories had the highest participation rate this week (54 participants per 100,000 population) and the neighbourhood with postal code, K0A had the highest number of participants (122). See what is happening in your neighbourhood! Downloadable datasets are also available on Open Maps.

If you are interested in becoming a FluWatcher, sign up today.

Number of Participants Reporting in week 45: 9,210

The shaded area represents the maximum and minimum percentage of percentage of participants reporting cough and fever by week, from seasons 2014-2015 to 2019-2020. Data from week 11 of the 2019-2020 season onwards are excluded from the historical comparison due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Figure 6 - Text description

Surveillance Week	2023-2024	2022-2023	2021-2022	Average	Min	Max
35	1.1%	1.3%	0.2%	-	-	-
36	1.2%	1.2%	0.3%	-	-	-
37	1.5%	1.6%	0.5%	-	-	-
38	2.0%	1.8%	0.5%	-	-	-
39	2.3%	2.3%	0.5%	-	-	-
40	1.8%	2.4%	0.6%	2.5%	2.2%	2.7%
41	1.6%	2.0%	0.5%	2.2%	1.8%	2.6%
42	1.7%	2.0%	0.4%	1.8%	1.6%	2.0%
43	1.7%	2.3%	0.5%	1.9%	1.5%	2.2%
44	1.9%	2.6%	0.5%	1.6%	1.4%	1.8%
45	1.9%	3.0%	0.5%	1.8%	1.4%	2.3%
46	-	2.9%	0.4%	1.8%	1.2%	2.2%
47	-	3.1%	0.6%	1.9%	1.4%	2.4%
48	-	3.1%	0.5%	2.4%	1.7%	3.4%
49	-	2.7%	0.4%	2.6%	2.0%	3.2%
50	-	2.1%	0.6%	2.9%	2.1%	3.8%
51	-	2.4%	1.0%	3.2%	2.5%	3.9%
52	-	2.1%	1.5%	4.0%	2.8%	5.4%
1	-	1.7%	1.1%	3.8%	2.9%	4.8%
2	-	1.3%	1.0%	2.9%	1.9%	3.9%
3	-	1.3%	0.8%	3.3%	2.3%	4.8%
4	-	1.2%	0.6%	3.1%	2.1%	4.2%
5	-	1.1%	0.6%	3.2%	2.6%	3.6%
6	-	1.4%	0.5%	3.5%	2.8%	4.3%
7	-	1.3%	0.4%	3.2%	2.6%	3.8%
8	-	1.3%	0.5%	3.1%	2.5%	3.6%
9	-	1.4%	0.5%	2.8%	2.4%	3.5%
10	-	1.5%	0.6%	2.6%	2.1%	3.1%
11	-	1.5%	0.9%	2.3%	1.9%	2.6%
12	-	1.3%	1.2%	2.6%	2.5%	2.8%
13	-	1.5%	1.8%	2.5%	2.0%	3.1%
14	-	1.3%	2.3%	2.1%	1.3%	2.6%
15	-	1.4%	1.9%	1.8%	1.6%	1.9%
16	-	1.2%	1.9%	2.0%	1.5%	2.4%
17	-	1.2%	1.6%	1.7%	1.4%	2.3%
18	-	1.1%	1.4%	1.5%	1.2%	2.1%
19	-	0.9%	1.3%	-	-	-
20	-	1.0%	1.2%	-	-	-
21	-	0.9%	1.2%	-	-	-
22	-	0.7%	1.2%	-	-	-
23	-	0.9%	1.2%	-	-	-
24	-	0.9%	1.3%	-	-	-
25	-	0.7%	1.3%	-	-	-
26	-	0.9%	1.8%	-	-	-
27	-	0.8%	2.0%	-	-	-
28	-	0.6%	1.9%	-	-	-
29	-	0.6%	1.8%	-	-	-
30	-	0.7%	1.6%	-	-	-
31	-	1.0%	1.3%	-	-	-
32	-	0.9%	1.2%	-	-	-
33	-	0.9%	1.4%	-	-	-
34	-	1.2%	1.3%	-	-	-

Influenza outbreak surveillance

In week 45, seven laboratory-confirmed influenza outbreaks were reported.

To date this season (August 27, 2023 to November 11, 2023):

• 32 laboratory-confirmed influenza outbreaks have been reported
  • 21 were in LTC facilities (66%)
  • 8 were in a facility categorized as ‘other’ (25%)
  • 3 were in acute care facilities (9%)
  • All outbreaks were due to influenza A and among those with subtyping information (15), 80% were due to influenza A(H1N1)
• 8 ILI outbreaks have been reported
  • All ILI outbreaks have been reported in schools and/or daycares

Outbreaks of ILI are not specific to any one respiratory pathogen and can be due influenza, or other respiratory viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, COVID-19, or a mixture of viruses.

Number of provinces and territories^{Footnote 1} reporting in week 45: 11 out of 13

Figure 7 - Text description

Surveillance Week	Acute Care Facilities	Long Term Care Facilities	Other	Schools and Daycares	Remote and/or Isolated Communities
35	0	1	1	0	0
36	0	0	0	0	0
37	0	2	0	0	0
38	0	2	0	0	0
39	0	1	0	0	0
40	0	2	0	0	0
41	0	1	0	0	0
42	0	2	0	0	0
43	0	2	1	0	0
44	2	6	2	0	0
45	1	2	4	0	0
46	0	0	0	0	0
47	0	0	0	0	0
48	0	0	0	0	0
49	0	0	0	0	0
50	0	0	0	0	0
51	0	0	0	0	0
52	0	0	0	0	0
1	0	0	0	0	0
2	0	0	0	0	0
3	0	0	0	0	0
4	0	0	0	0	0
5	0	0	0	0	0
6	0	0	0	0	0
7	0	0	0	0	0
8	0	0	0	0	0
9	0	0	0	0	0
10	0	0	0	0	0
11	0	0	0	0	0
12	0	0	0	0	0
13	0	0	0	0	0
14	0	0	0	0	0
15	0	0	0	0	0
16	0	0	0	0	0
17	0	0	0	0	0
18	0	0	0	0	0
19	0	0	0	0	0
20	0	0	0	0	0
21	0	0	0	0	0
22	0	0	0	0	0
23	0	0	0	0	0
24	0	0	0	0	0
25	0	0	0	0	0
26	0	0	0	0	0
27	0	0	0	0	0
28	0	0	0	0	0
29	0	0	0	0	0
30	0	0	0	0	0
31	0	0	0	0	0
32	0	0	0	0	0
33	0	0	0	0	0
34	0	0	0	0	0

Influenza severe outcomes surveillance

Provincial/territorial influenza hospitalizations and deaths

In week 45, 42 influenza-associated hospitalizations, 8 ICU admissions, and less than 5 influenza-associated deaths were reported by participating provinces and territories^{Footnote 2}.

To date this season (August 27, 2023 to November 11, 2023), 184 influenza-associated hospitalizations were reported by participating provinces and territories:

• 97% of the hospitalizations were associated with influenza A.
• Of the cases with subtype information (149), 85% were associated with influenza A(H1N1)
• Adults aged 65 years of age and older accounted for 51% of reported hospitalizations.

To date this season (August 27, 2023 to November 11, 2023), 21 ICU admissions and 6 influenza-associated deaths were reported.

Number of provinces and territories reporting in week 45: 7 out of 9

Pediatric influenza hospitalizations and deaths

Data for laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated pediatric (≤16 years of age) hospitalizations were not available for weeks 45.

Influenza strain characterization

Since September 1, 2023, the National Microbiology Laboratory Branch (NMLB) has characterized 79 influenza viruses (63 A(H1N1), 9 A(H3N2), and 7 influenza B) received from Canadian laboratories.

Antigenic Characterization

Changes in circulating influenza viruses are monitored by antigenic characterization. Antigenic characterization results show how similar the circulating viruses are to reference viruses. Reference viruses represent strains included in the current seasonal influenza vaccine.

Influenza A(H1N1)

A/Wisconsin/67/2022 is the influenza A(H1N1) component of the 2023-2024 Northern Hemisphere influenza vaccine.

• 63 H1N1 viruses were characterized as antigenically similar to A/Wisconsin/67/2022-like with antisera produced against cell-grown A/Wisconsin/67/2022.

Influenza A(H3N2)

A/Darwin/6/2021 (H3N2)-like virus is the influenza A(H3N2) component of the 2023-2024 Northern Hemisphere influenza vaccine.  

• 8 influenza A(H3N2) were antigenically similar to A/Darwin/6/2021 (H3N2)-like virus using antisera raised against cell-grown A/Darwin/6/2021 (H3N2)-like virus.
• 1 influenza A(H3N2) showed reduced titer with antisera raised against cell-grown A/Darwin/6/2021 (H3N2)-like virus.

Influenza B

Influenza B viruses can be divided into two antigenically distinct lineages represented by B/Yamagata/16/88 and B/Victoria/2/87 viruses. The recommended influenza B components for the 2023-2024 Northern Hemisphere influenza vaccine are B/Austria/1359417/2021 (Victoria lineage) and B/Phuket/3073/2013 (Yamagata lineage)

• 7 viruses characterized were antigenically similar to B/Austria/1359417/2021.

Genetic Characterization

Genetic characterization is used to determine how similar gene sequences of circulating influenza viruses are to the sequences of the vaccine components used in the current seasonal influenza vaccine.

Since September 1, 2023, NMLB has genetically characterized 70 influenza viruses.

Antiviral resistance

The National Microbiology Laboratory Branch also tests influenza viruses received from Canadian laboratories for antiviral resistance.

Oseltamivir

70 influenza viruses (9 H3N2, 57 H1N1 and 4 influenza B) were tested for resistance to oseltamivir.

• All influenza viruses were sensitive to oseltamivir.

Zanamivir

70 influenza viruses (9 H3N2, 57 H1N1 and 4 influenza B) were tested for resistance to zanamivir.

• All influenza viruses were sensitive to zanamivir.

Influenza vaccine monitoring

Vaccine monitoring refers to activities related to the monitoring of influenza vaccination coverage and vaccine effectiveness.

Vaccination coverage

Influenza vaccine coverage estimates for the 2023-2024 season are anticipated to be available in February or March 2024.

Vaccine effectiveness

Influenza vaccine effectiveness estimates for the 2023-2024 season are anticipated to be available in February or March 2024.

Provincial and international surveillance links

See Influenza surveillance resources

Notes

The data in the FluWatch report represent surveillance data available at the time of writing. All data are preliminary and may change as updates are received.

To learn more about the FluWatch program, see the Overview of influenza monitoring in Canada page.

For more information on the flu, see our Flu (influenza) web page.

We would like to thank all the FluWatch surveillance partners participating in this year's influenza surveillance program.

This report is available on the Government of Canada Influenza webpage.

Ce rapport est disponible dans les deux langues officielles.