The number of lab-confirmed influenza cases has continued to rise in Alberta, and health officials are urging Albertans to get the flu shot, if they haven’t already.

AHS said Thursday that the number of flu cases in Alberta had increased from 662 lab-confirmed cases (as of December 27) to 965 cases.

Senior medical officer of health Dr. Gerry Predy said of those cases, 920 of them had been confirmed as H1N1.

In Edmonton, the number of cases also saw a significant increase, from 256 cases December 27, to 371 lab confirmed cases, with 350 of those confirmed to be H1N1 – with a total of 40 patients having to be hospitalized because of the flu.

In addition, three deaths have been attributed to H1N1 in Edmonton, as have two deaths in Calgary.

Dr. Predy said the growing number of cases indicate more people need to get the flu shot.

“It tells us something that maybe we need to do a better job up front, of getting people to come forward,” Dr. Predy said. “It’s hard to predict how the virus is going to behave over the next couple of weeks, but what we do know is that if you are immunized you have a much better chance of staying healthy.”

It’s something Health Minister Fred Horne agrees is an issue, he told CTV News Thursday that getting Albertans to get immunized has been a challenge, especially for health care workers – he said only 49 percent of AHS staff have been vaccinated since the flu season started in the fall of 2013.

“I think that health care professionals have a leadership role to play here,” Horne said. “Certainly, their access to the shot is widely available in every health care setting in the province.”

Meanwhile, AHS has made the vaccine available in a series of special flu shot clinics over the holidays:

  • West Jasper Place Health Centre (9720 182 Street NW) on Tuesday, January 7 (12:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.)
  • Northgate Health Centre (9499 137 Avenue NW) Friday, January 3 (9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Tuesday, January 7 (12:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.) and Friday, January 10 (9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)
  • Bonnie Doon Health Centre (8314 88 Avenue NW) on Friday, January 3 (9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), and Friday, January 10 (9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)

More information on the flu shot clinics can be found online.

With files from Ashley Molnar