Head colds not-so-popular winter illness

Les résidents de Prescott-Russell n’ont pas à craindre la fermeture d’installations du Bureau de santé de l’est de l’Ontario. Bien que le bureau régional de santé connaisse une insuffisance au chapitre du soutien financier provincial, le Dr Paul Roumeliotis, médecin-hygiéniste s’est montré rassurant. En effet, il a signalé que des plans étaient en cours pour réduire une partie des coûts fixes de l’unité régionale de santé, sans avoir à fermer les bureaux locaux, ni à réduire les heures de service ou les services en soi.

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Bouts of influenza are fewer this season but the common cold seems to be trying to fill in the gap among some residents in Eastern Ontario.

“We’ve got a lot of head colds,” said Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, chief medical health officer for the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) during a phone interview March 6.

He noted that the number of influenza outbreaks has been “sporadic” this season, and even when there are a few cases of flu showing up in some areas, it may be very mild thanks to preventive vaccination which has helped strengthen the immune system. But, he added, there have been more cases of other illnesses like the ordinary cold or stomach flu which are caused by different kinds of viruses.

“But these are not the flu,” he said, adding that people who got their flu shots earlier in the season and then came down with a head cold should not blame their influenza vaccination.

The two main potential high-risk periods for a flu outbreak among anyone lacking the vaccination are during the Christmas season and during the March/April period, when the weather changes with spring approaching. Those are also the high-risk periods for colds.

Dr. Roumeliotis urged people to make sure they practice proper health habits with frequent washing of the hands with antibacterial soap, avoiding situations where they might either contract or spread any germs, and covering their mouth or nose when they cough or sneeze to prevent airborne transmission of germs.

Paul Roumeliotis, médecin hygiéniste en chef, a fait remarquer que bien que le vaccin annuel contre la grippe, disponible auprès du bureau de santé, des pharmacies locales et des cliniques médicales, soit efficace contre la plupart des souches de la grippe, il ne peut pas arrêter le virus responsable du rhume.