H1N1 flu in Alberta causes 10 deaths

Ten people between the ages of 18 and 64 have died from flu, Alberta health officials said Monday.

Of the 300 people now in hospital, 40 are in the intensive care unit.

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Some of the people who died had underlying health conditions.

Dr. James Talbot, the chief medical officer of health for Alberta Health, saidthe outbreakis not a pandemic, but H1N1is the recurring strain people are getting this year.

"Virtually all of the influenza that we're seeing in the province this year is H1N1," he said.

More people have been immunized at this point than last year, Talbot added.

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Over the past few days, the escalation in flu cases hasprompted health officials to urge people to get a flu shot. Long lineups have been reported outside of clinics operated by Alberta Health Services.

People over the age of ninecan also get flu shots at drug stores, but many of them ran out of vaccine over the weekend.

Talbot saidanother pharmacy vaccine drop is scheduled for Tuesday morning. However,allvaccines may be savedforthe mass immunization clinics operated by Alberta Health Services.

The supplies are not infinite, Talbotsaid. Its just too difficult to maintain a system with 1,500 entry points.

About 23 per cent of Albertans have now been immunized.