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Flu thrives because people don’t get shots |
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Written by BERNICE TRICK
Citizen staff
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Friday, 28 November 2008 |
If 80 per cent of the people in Prince George would get an annual flu shot, the disease could be almost wiped out in the community, says the medical health officer for Northern Interior health service area.
"If that many people, six months and older, got the shot annually, the circulation of the virus would be so interrupted, cases of flu would be rare," said Dr. William Osei.
"The flu is a serious disease with severe fever, headache, muscle pains, fatigue and weakness that puts people in bed, and who take two to three weeks to return to normal," said Osei.
That's what the vaccine is designed to prevent, but many people misconstrue the real flu for colds and gastroenteritis, a Norovirus which most people call the stomach flu.
"There is no such thing as the stomach flu, and those type of illnesses don't kill, but influenza killed 1,400 people in B.C. last year," Osei said.
"A lot of times, people say they got their flu shot, but still got the flu. Most times it's not the flu they got. There are many bugs that can make you ill, but there's no vaccine for them.
"The thing that worries health officials most is an antigenic shift from the known human virus type to the avian or mammalian type of virus. That would cause a pandemic flu that could sweep the world," said Osei. The whole world is on alert for a pandemic-type flu, he said.
"The better prepared we are, the better, and those who get their flu shots will be better prepared than those who have no protection at all.
"My message is that getting the flu is much more severe than getting the vaccine, which acts as schooling for the body to identify and destroy the virus. The more vaccine the body receives, the smarter it becomes to fight the virus. Get the flu shot before the flu gets you."
The number of flu shots given in Prince George this year has increased over last year, but not dramatically, said Osei, who attributes the greater number to an aging population, expansion of the eligibility group and, to some extent, "the message getting out there."
This year's flu vaccine is concocted to prevent the A Brisbane, A Uruquay and B Florida strains that health experts expect to peak this winter.
They identify the strains by those circulating in the southern hemisphere during winter there (summer here), he said.
"They are identified by taking throat swabs of people who are ill and they grow the viruses (in laboratories) to identify them, and once they identify them and the World Health Organization and national organizations agree, the WHO recommends the flu strains vaccines. There can be that odd exception, but usually they match it pretty close."
When a different flu than expected shows up, the backup plan is to treat it with anti-viral drugs, he said.
Annual flu clinics in Prince George are completed now, but the public can still get the flu vaccine at the Northern Interior Health Unit each Friday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Flu shots are free to those 65 and older, residents of long-term care facilities, those with chronic disease, children aged six to 23 months, child-care contacts of children up to 23 months, household contacts of someone who is at high risk; pregnant women in the third trimester during flu season; those working with poultry and swine, those with compromised cardio and respiratory systems; health-care workers, emergency personnel and those who serve in potential outbreak settings, like cruise ships.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 28 November 2008 )
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