Getting the flu vaccine offers protection not only for you but for the people around you, say health officials. (iStock)

Not enough Canadians get the flu vaccine, say health officials

On average, influenza sends 12,200 people to hospital and kills 3,500 people every year in Canada. In an effort to reduce those numbers, health officials have set a target of getting 80 per cent of the population vaccinated. Last year, only 34 per cent was.

Vaccination benefits not just you, says doctor

“The flu shot is imperative,” says Dr. Iris Gorfinkel, a vaccination researcher and family physician. “It not only prevents people from getting sick, it prevents people from giving the flu to other people who are at high risk.”

The high risk groups include people who are over 65 years old, cancer patients, diabetics, those with liver or kidney disease, pregnant women, the very obese Indigenous people and others with serious medical conditions. Those at high risk and the people they live with can get the vaccine at no cost.

Most, but not all provinces offer it for free to the general population over the age of six months.

Even if you are young and healthy, influenza can make you very sick. (iStock)

Doctor calls flu shot imperative

It’s not clear why so few people get the immunization. Some believe they can get the flu but science proves overwhelmingly that is not true. You cannot get the flu from the vaccination.

Another reason may be that some people think the vaccine doesn’t work. They may remember that last year’s flu shot was not as effective because researchers did not accurately predict which strains would be prevalent. There are many strains of the influenza virus and hundreds of researchers in a hundred countries work to try to predict which strains will emerge in different countries. They must work in advance because it takes six months to develop a vaccine.

Far fewer hospitalizations and deaths where more are vaccinated

The flu vaccine available in Canada for the 2018-19 season offers protection from four different strains of influenza and health officials think it will be a better match for circulating viruses this season. So, Gorfinkel is hopeful more people, including those who are young and healthy, will get vaccinated.

“Take the flu shot because we know that countries that do that have far fewer hospitalizations and far fewer deaths attributable to influenza.”

Dr. Iris Gorfinkel explains why she says it’s imperative that everyone get the influenza vaccination.

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Antibiotics won’t help, so don’t ask

Also, if you do get the flu, doctors say it is worse than useless to ask for antibiotics. The flu is a virus and antiobiotics are for fighting bacteria. They do nothing for viruses. Taking antibiotics unnecessarily only contributes to the world’s dangerous problem of antibiotic resistance.

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