{"id":25492,"date":"2019-04-06T19:42:37","date_gmt":"2019-04-06T23:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=25492"},"modified":"2019-04-06T19:42:39","modified_gmt":"2019-04-06T23:42:39","slug":"st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"ST. LUCIA-Health authorities concerned at increases in flu cases"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Health authorities are investigating two deaths amid reports of an increase influenza cases on the Island.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have been investigating two cases which are influenza related in males. Two unusual deaths that are related to the flu, which is quite unusual for us in St. Lucia and more so at this time of the year,\u201d said Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Sharon Belmar-George.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we review the cases at our health care facilities, cases seem to be a little more intense,  a little bit unusual as to what we usually see on a regular basis,\u201d she said, adding that the flu season  here is usually between October to March and peaks in December.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Belmar-George said that usually, health officials here start seeing increases in flu cases from October decreasing during the period January to March.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

However she said that from 2018, there has been an increase in cases during December with significant increases being recorded in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBetween week seven and eight of 2019 we noted that the cases have gone even above our usual threshold both in under five years and over and the flu seems to be more intense,\u201d Dr. Belmar-George said.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Last week, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Merlene Fredericks-James, advised that persons with underlying medical conditions, the very young and the elderly, as well as pregnant women, are at increased risk of developing severe complications, and in some cases death, from flu infection.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Health authorities are investigating two deaths amid reports of an increase influenza cases on the Island. \u201cWe have been investigating two cases which are influenza related in males. Two unusual deaths that are related to the flu, which is quite unusual for us in St. Lucia and more so at this time of the year,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-regional"],"yoast_head":"\nST. LUCIA-Health authorities concerned at increases in flu cases - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ST. LUCIA-Health authorities concerned at increases in flu cases\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Health authorities are investigating two deaths amid reports of an increase influenza cases on the Island. \u201cWe have been investigating two cases which are influenza related in males. Two unusual deaths that are related to the flu, which is quite unusual for us in St. Lucia and more so at this time of the year,\u201d […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-06T23:42:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-06T23:42:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Health-image-0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1698\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1131\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"ST. LUCIA-Health authorities concerned at increases in flu cases\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-06T23:42:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-06T23:42:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/\"},\"wordCount\":246,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FLU.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Regional\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/\",\"name\":\"ST. LUCIA-Health authorities concerned at increases in flu cases - Antigua News Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FLU.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-06T23:42:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-06T23:42:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FLU.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FLU.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"ST. LUCIA-Health authorities concerned at increases in flu cases\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua News Room\",\"description\":\"News As It Happens\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Antigua Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Antigua Newsroom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\",\"name\":\"Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"caption\":\"Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ST. LUCIA-Health authorities concerned at increases in flu cases - Antigua News Room","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ST. LUCIA-Health authorities concerned at increases in flu cases","og_description":"Health authorities are investigating two deaths amid reports of an increase influenza cases on the Island. \u201cWe have been investigating two cases which are influenza related in males. Two unusual deaths that are related to the flu, which is quite unusual for us in St. Lucia and more so at this time of the year,\u201d […]","og_url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/","og_site_name":"Antigua News Room","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","article_published_time":"2019-04-06T23:42:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-04-06T23:42:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1698,"height":1131,"url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Health-image-0.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_site":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editor","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/"},"author":{"name":"Editor","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5"},"headline":"ST. LUCIA-Health authorities concerned at increases in flu cases","datePublished":"2019-04-06T23:42:37+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-06T23:42:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/"},"wordCount":246,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FLU.png","articleSection":["Regional"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/","name":"ST. LUCIA-Health authorities concerned at increases in flu cases - Antigua News Room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FLU.png","datePublished":"2019-04-06T23:42:37+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-06T23:42:39+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FLU.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FLU.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/st-lucia-health-authorities-concerned-at-increases-in-flu-cases\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ST. LUCIA-Health authorities concerned at increases in flu cases"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","name":"Antigua News Room","description":"News As It Happens","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization","name":"Antigua Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","width":1260,"height":1260,"caption":"Antigua Newsroom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5","name":"Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","caption":"Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}