We should fight against influenza

There was a compelling yet tragic reason why more than 2,500 people who hadn’t been vaccinated against influenza last fall flooded into special clinics in Guelph last week.

It explains why those clinics were jammed with panicky parents holding their kids by the hand or carrying them in their arms.

And it explains why even though free flu shots had been available in Guelph and other cities for months, local public health officials extended those special flu clinics all last week.

The reason was that children are dying from influenza.

In Guelph, flu claimed the life of seven-year-old Boyqara Dahi on Feb. 8, just eight days after 12-yearold Layna Vu Pollard died from the same illness. And Bobby Smylie, 10, of Waterdown, died from flu on Feb. 4

The illness took hold of the youngsters suddenly. Their condition deteriorated rapidly. And before their shocked parents knew what was happening, they were gone.

Influenza hits Canada every year. For most people, the fever, muscular pain and coughing it brings will leave them flat on their backs for a few miserable days before they recover.

But flu also kills. People over 65 are the most common victims.

Yet young, otherwise healthy, people also die.

At least eight children have died from an influenza virus in Canada this flu season, including the youngsters from Guelph and Waterdown.

According to reports, the two children who died in Guelph had not been vaccinated.

This year’s flu viruses are taking a higher-thanusual toll on children in Canada. Perhaps it didn’t need to be so bad.

The best way to fight influenza is to prevent its spread. The best way to do this, health officials agree, is through mass, public inoculation campaigns.

The Ontario government has offered free flu vaccinations for years. People can get one at doctors’ offices, pharmacies or special clinics.

But precious few do.

Only 34 per cent of Ontarians got the flu shot in a 12-month period in 2015-16, according to Statistics Canada. The majority who don’t should jettison their complacency or suspicion.

They need to understand it’s not just about individuals protecting themselves; it’s about all of us protecting each other.

Even this year, when it appears the shot may be less effective than usual given the number of different strains, there are benefits to getting inoculated. Repeated vaccinations can reduce symptoms. The higher the percentage of the population that is immunized, the greater the odds each of us and our loved ones will have of avoiding the flu.

Our hearts go out to the families who have lost children this year.

Our hopes are that the wave of parents having children inoculated will not be a one-time phenomenon.