Stick it to us: Flu shots are worth our time
Get your flu shot. A few minutes’ wait, perhaps some mild soreness, and you’ll be on your way — with a better chance of making it through the winter unscathed. As the flu season begins, researchers from across Canada are in Ottawa this week to present the latest immunization research at the annual Canadian Immunization Conference. Topics range from ways to increase early childhood immunization to what influences vaccine hesitancy.
Some of these topics are complex, but for ordinary families, it’s all straightforward: Get your shot, and not just for your own sake. Do it for those around you who are more vulnerable to illness: the elderly, for example, or young children, pregnant women and people with chronic illnesses. Each year, thousands are hospitalized countrywide because of the flu, and anything we can do collectively to lower the number will help the health of our neighbours and ease the burden on the health system.
The flu vaccine isn’t perfect; in a good year, it’s about 50- to 70-per-cent effective. Influenza changes every year, which keeps scientists scrambling to create an effective vaccine. But it’s far better than nothing, as anyone who has come down with a nasty flu will attest. And you can get the shot from your family doctor, neighbourhood pharmacy or any number of community clinics around Ottawa. Also, it’s free.
Some avoid vaccination, taken in by pseudoscience about false dangers. The flu vaccine is safe. The flu, on the other hand, can be highly dangerous: Between five and 10 per cent of adults, and 20 to 30 per cent of children, get it each year. It cracks the top-10 list for causes of death in Canada annually. “The flu is a serious viral infection that can have severe complications,” summarizes Ottawa Public Health.
Even if you’re healthy and robust, without any elderly relatives, immune-compromised family members or infants to infect, you should still get vaccinated. That contributes to herd immunity in the community. Ottawa Public Health estimates that the flu shot prevents 300 deaths and 1,100 hospitalizations in Ontario each year.
Last year, 11 people locally were dead by midJanuary, after outbreaks in retirement residences, long-term-care centres and hospitals. However, it is children between the ages of six and nine who are most likely to get the flu (and spread it). In the 2013-14 flu season, only 57 per cent of Ottawa adults got their vaccine. We can do better than that. Get vaccinated. In the meantime, cough into your elbow, wash your hands regularly and stay home if you’re sick.