Getting the flu shot is an annual necessity for Carol LeClair.
“I don’t want to get the flu for one thing,” said the Charlottetown resident. “It’s protection.”
LeClair also knows the vaccine doesn’t just help protect an individual against influenza. Receiving a flu shot also helps lower the risk of others contracting the virus.
“If I get the flu, I don’t want to spread it to other people,” she said.
With flu season right around the corner, it’s time for Islanders to start thinking about immunization.
Influenza symptoms include:
- Sudden or acute onset headaches
- Fever
- Sore throat
- Cough
- More aches and pains than usual
According to the province’s chief public health officer, the best way to lower the chance of contacting the virus is by receiving the influenza vaccine.
Dr. Heather Morrison said beginning today, close to 60,000 doses of the influenza vaccine (including 4,000 doses of flu mist) will be distributed across P.E.I. – a couple thousand more doses than last year.
Morrison said influenza is a contagious virus that arrives every year, and the most effective way of lowering the risk of contracting it is through vaccination.
And thanks to the Universal Influenza Immunization Program, for the second year in a row the public will be able to receive the flu shot for free at public health clinics, pharmacies, and nurse practitioners’ and physicians’ offices.
There will also be walk-in public health flu clinics starting today.
While there are certain risk groups who are particularly encouraged to receive the flu shot – including people with weakened immune systems, chronic illness, asthma, young children, pregnant women, those 65 years of age and older – Morrison said anyone over six months of age should think about getting vaccinated.
That’s because the influenza vaccine doesn’t just protect the person who receives a dose, she said.
“When you get the flu shot, it not only lowers your risk of getting influenza, but also helps protect your family, your community and the people you work with,” she said. “Influenza can lead to serious complications, especially for people who have underlying health conditions like cancer, asthma, COPD, and the very young and the elderly, who are more at risk for not only hospitalization, but for things like pneumonia.”
Last year there were 132 hospitalizations with lab-confirmed influenza, and six deaths (each of the individuals who died had chronic illnesses), and there were 18 outbreaks of influenza-like illness, primarily at long-term and community care facilities.
To date, there have been no influenza-positive cases on P.E.I., Morrison said, adding the large number of cases aren’t typically seen until November or December.
However, since it can take time for the flu shot to mount the response to protect a person, people are encouraged to get immunized now.
Morrison said along with vaccines, there are other ways to help prevent the spread of influenza, including hand-washing, coughing into one’s sleeve and staying in the home and away from school and work when illness strikes.
- With files from Katherine Hunt
Islanders should practice the “three C’s” to limit the spread of any illness.
- Clean – properly wash your hands frequently
- Cover – cover your coughs and sneezes
- Contain – contain your germs by staying home if you are sick
- More information is available at Princeedwardisland.ca/flu
