Flu season is fast approaching and the Northern Health Authority is taking preventative action.
Starting today, seasonal influenza vaccine will be offered to people who are most at risk of complications from seasonal flu and they are being encouraged to visit a heath clinic over the next few weeks to receive their shots.
Those at-risk groups include: seniors; resident of long-term care homes; chronically ill adults and children; healthy children between the ages of six months and 23 months; young children and teens who have a condition that has required treatment for long periods with acetylsalicylic acid; caregivers who work with children 23 months old or younger; household contacts of someone who is at high risk of developing flu; pregnant women who will be in their third trimester during flu season (November to April); and Aboriginal people.
Flu symptoms include fever, muscle aches, sore throat and coughing. Careful hand-washing is the best way to prevent spread of the virus.
The clinics will also be stocked with pneumococcal vaccine for seniors and those with chronic medical conditions. Close to 27,000 Northern B.C. residents received free flu shots between October 2010 and February 2011.
For more information go to: www.northernhealth.ca.
