There’s been a slight spike in flu cases this late in the season in the Interior Health Authority area, but it’s nowhere close to the spike in Vancouver for instance.

The BC Centre for Disease Control reports an unusual wave of new Influenza A cases since early March, mostly affecting older adults.

“It’s probably a little higher than usual at this time of year,” said Interior Health’s Manager of the Communicable Disease Unit, Jonathan Spence. “What we are seeing is later flu this year in terms of our positive rates in terms of testing.”

“Right now, we’re seeing about 19 per cent positivity in our influenza results, whereas at the peak earlier in this season, we were up at 45 per cent of the results as positive.”

Spence says every flu season is different, noting there isn’t a specific reason for the slight jump in the cases this late in the season.

“We’re seeing a lot less flu of the tests that are being submitted,” he noted. “But we’re seeing other things, we’re seeing a spring cold, we’re seeing other respiratory illness as opposed to the flu.”

Spence adds the typical flu season usually ends in early April, and people can still get a flu shot if they want, before the season officially wraps up.

That wrap up will likely be a couple of weeks later than usual.