The North Bay – Parry Sound District Health Unit says the region has seen five people die from flu-related factors. However the health unit tells the North Bay Nugget the number of flu deaths and hospitalizations are similar to last year. That’s the opposite of elsewhere in the province where about half the health units are seeing many cases of the flu. So far this season there have been 115 lab-confirmed cases of the flu in the area compared to 178 for all of last year.