H1N1 flu claims the life of B.C. woman who was in her 50s; vaccine supply tight

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – The Interior Health authority says a woman from British Columbia’s Okanagan has died after she contracted the same strain of flu that has claimed the lives of 16 people in the Prairies.

Senior medical officer Dr. Rob Parker says lab reports confirm the woman who was in her 50s had the H1N1 virus.

The virus that has claimed the lives of six people in Saskatchewan and 10 people in Alberta is also making its presence felt in southwestern B.C.

Two separate health authorities in the Metro Vancouver have reported that more than 20 people have been hospitalized with the virus.

Provincial medical health officer Dr. Perry Kendall says medical officials still don’t know whether one death in the Vancouver area can be blamed on the flu.

Parker says some pharmacies could see temporary shortages of the vaccination because the supply is tight.

(CHNL, The Canadian Press)