A Medical officer is linking flu crisis to housing issues, he says that better houses and their conditions could have prevented deaths that occurred in the winter season.

Above are the beliefs of a Canterbury District Health Board medical officer of health Mr. Alistair Humphrey, who said in his recent report that cramped conditions and poor housing facilities have helped the flu take over Canterbury and people's health.

Canterbury since three weeks is under the damaging effect of an influenza outbreak. The region has reported more than 250 cases so far this year. Highlighting about the triggering causes, the health officials said that if houses had been overcrowded, the outbreak would have occurred rather it would have contributed to general sickness cases only.

He said that lack of quality properties in Canterbury has resulted into an increase in respiratory illnesses and infectious diseases like whooping cough, tuberculosis and rheumatic fever.

"Whether or not the current flu crisis can be attributed to the housing issues . . . well, it's difficult to say", he said. "You have to remember that we didn't have a flu outbreak last year and things were acutally worse then".

He added that Canterbury lacks 21st-century standard housing stock, which makes houses and their residents more vulnerable to such conditions.