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10TuesdayJanuary142014HealthWellnessH1N1ByMARIACHURCHAspikeinthenumberofucasesintheNWTthisyeariscausingastrainonvaccinesuppliesaccordingtotheterritorystopdoctorbutitstooearlytotellifitwillbearecordhighyear.Dr.AndrCorriveauNWTsChiefPublicHealthOfcerconrmedwithTheJournalthatH1N1-thein-uenzastrainthatravagedtheworldin2009causinganestimated500000deaths-isonceagainthepredominantstrainthisyear.Asoflatelastweektherewere53lab-conrmedinu-enzacasesintheterritoryandallwerefoundtobetheH1N1virus.Thatsreallythetipoftheicebergbecausethosethatgetdiagnosedaretheonesthataresickenoughtogotoahealthcentreortheemer-gencyroomCorriveausaid.Eightpeoplehavebeenhospitalizedbecauseofse-verereactiontotheinuenzabutthusfartherehavebeennodeathsintheterritoryat-tributedtotheu.ChildrenandyoungadultsareparticularlysusceptibletotheH1N1virusandaremorelikelytohaveasevereinfectionCorriveausaid.Severaloftheconfirmedcasesarechildrenunder5yearsold.AcrossCanadauneaseisspreadingastheprairieprovincescontinuetoreportstartlinglyhighnumbersofhospitalizationanddeathsfromtheuvirusandtheAlbertagovernmentcon-rmedlastweekthattherewasevenanisolateddeathfromtherareAvianinu-enzaH5N1.ColddryweathermightbetoblamefortheearlyandsharpincreaseofucasesintheNWTCorriveausaidsinceverycolddryairdoesseemtofacilitatethespreadofrespiratoryviruses.Vaccinelimitedtohigh-riskonlyDuetounprecedenteddemandGlenAbernethyNWTshealthministeran-nouncedlatelastweekthatitislimitingvaccinesup-plytohighriskindividualsonly.Priorityisbeinggiventopregnantmothersandchil-drenundertheageofve.Wearenowrunninglowonouruvaccinationsup-pliesfor2014.Thisisbe-causeofanoverwhelmingresponsefromthegeneralpublicoverthelastweektheministersaidatapressconferenceFriday.Thegovernmentorderedmorethan15000dosesenoughtovaccinate36percentofthepopulationthisyear.AsofFridaytherewereapproximately700left.Accordingtotheministerthegovernmentisworkingwithfederalandprovincialauthoritiestorestockthede-pletingvaccinesupply.Slow2013useasongavefalsesecurityOverthepasttwousea-sonsCanadarecordedlowerthanaverageinuenzacaseswhichlikelygavepeopleafalsesenseofsecurityCor-riveautoldTheJournal.Lastyearonly20percentofthepopulationintheNWTreceivedtheuvaccinewithsomecommunitiesashighas60percentandotherslessthan15.Yellowknifehadoneofthelowerpercentagesofparticipationpushingtheter-ritorybelowaverage.IthinkmanypeoplehaddecideditwasntthatbigofadealandIwontgetmyushotCorriveausaid.Allofasuddenthereisabigdemandforinuenzavaccineagainbe-causepeoplearehearingthenewsfromAlbertaandSas-katchewanandtheyvehadanumberofdeaths.InFortSmithpublichealthnurseandsupervisorMelanieKearleyconrmedthatpre-Christmasvaccinenumberswerelowerthanusualbuttheysawaoodofpeopleinthenewyear.Imguessingpeoplearewatchingthenewsandsee-ingtheincreaseofinuenzaandH1N1inAlberta.PeoplearegettingscaredandwanttobeprotectedKearleysaid.AccordingtothePublicHealthAgencyofCanadatherehavebeenlocalizedinu-enzaactivityinInuvikandspo-radicactivityinYellowknifeFortSmithandHayRiver.NWTconfirms53sickwithH1N1fluvirusTerritoryrunningoutofuvaccinesupplylimitstohigh-riskresidentsByMEAGANWOHLBERGThisyearsTeamNWTrosterfortheArcticWin-terGamesAWGinFair-banksAlaskashouldseeamixedbagintermsofrep-resentationfromacrosstheterritoryaccordingtoof-cialswiththeSportNorthFederation.Withthemajorityoftheterritoryspopulationandor-ganizedsportsYellowknifenaturallyhastheupperhandwhenitcomestoqualifyingformajorsportingeventsasNWTrepresentativesin-cludingthisyearsAWGinFairbanksAlaska.WhileYellowknifeisstillexpectedtodominatetheros-terintermsofrepresentationtheAWGschefdemissionDougRentmeistersaidheexpectsanincreaseinnum-bersofathletescomingfromthesurroundingcommuni-tiesthistimearoundintheindividualsportcategories.Weshouldseealotmorecommunitiesrepresented...becausetherearealotmoreindividualsportsbeingplayedhetoldTheJournal.Trialsformostofthosein-dividualsportswhichincludeArcticsportsDenegamesdogmushinggymnasticssnowboardingspeedskat-ingbadmintonandwres-tlinghaveyettotakeplaceandarescheduledforlaterinthemonth.ThosesportsespeciallyDenegamesandArcticsportstendtoseegreaternumbersofcommunityrep-resentationaccordingtoSportNorth.Teamsportswhichhadtheirqualiersdonebymid-DecemberareonceagaindominatedbyYellowknifeathleteswiththeexceptionofafew.Themalevolley-ballteamisalmostentirelycomposedofathletesfromFortSmithwhilethemalecurlingteamwillhailfromHayRiver.Thegirlscurl-ingteamisforgedfromath-letesfromInuvikandFortMcPherson.Basketballsoccerandwomensvolleyballareal-mostifnotcompletelymadeupofYellowknifersthoughhockeywhichhasahigherrateofparticipationthansomeothersportsoutsideofYellowknifehasresultedinmoreofamixedbagwithrespecttoTeamNWTsros-ter.ThemalebantamandmidgetteamsalongwiththefemaleteamcontainasolidmixofplayersfromYellowknifetheBeaufortDeltaandtheSouthSlave.Individualsportslikebi-athlonaspredictedbyRent-meisterarealreadyshow-ingamuchgreaterdegreeofvarietyinrepresentation.Bothskiandsnowshoebi-athletesarecominglargelyfromHayRiverwithothersfromAklavikFortGoodHopeTsiigehtchicandFortMcPherson.Crosscountryskiingfea-turestheoddFortMcPher-sonathleteaswellmixedinamongitsprimarilyYel-lowknife-basedrosterandfigureskatinghasseenasplitbetweenYellowknifeandInuvik.Rentmeisterattributedsomeoftheincreasedcom-munityparticipationtoad-ditionaleffortandnancingbySportNorth.We...makeaconsciousef-forttotrytogetasmanynontaxbasedathletesatalevelthattheycancompetewiththetaxbasedathleteshesaidinanemail.Forthesegamesweevenwentasfarastoallocatespecicfundstoterritorialsportorgani-zationstopreparenontaxbasedathletesforeachsetofterritorialtrials.StillRentmeistersaidthecompositionofathletesonTeamNWTvariesfromyeartoyear.Insomegameswehaveasignicantnumberofnontaxbasedathletessomegamesnothesaid.ForafulllistofTeamNWTsrostertodateandtrialschedulesvisithttpssport-north.comour-programsteam-nwtarctic-winter-gamesMorenon-YellowknifeathletesexpectedforAWG2014YellowknifedominatesTeamNWTrosterafterrstroundoftrialsSportsRecreationArcticWinterGamesPhotoMeaganWohlbergPhotoTimHoganAndrCorriveauNWTsChiefPublicHealthOfcersayscolddryweathercouldbetoblamefortheearlyandsharpincreaseofucasesintheterritory.FortSmithathleteDezmondMcDonaldgoesupforablockagainstTeamYukonatthe2012ArcticWinterGames.Forthesegamesweevenwentasfarastoallocatespecicfundstoterritorialsportorganizationstopreparenontaxbasedathletesforeachsetofterritorialtrials.DougRentmeisterSportNorthFederation