Have you seen the headlines?
“Health Officials Predict Severe Flu Season”
“Ontario prepares for ‘very difficult’ flu season, health minister says”
As we head into fall, once again, healthcare professionals are preparing for the upcoming flu season. Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) have been busy identifying/predicting the flu strains that will be responsible for making people sick. This information determine what strains the 2019-2020 flu vaccine will protect against.
Flu season is usually between October and May, with peak cases seen in December, January and February. Vaccines will be offered starting October/November. It takes approximately 2 weeks for the vaccine to start working in your body to offer protection.
It’s free to get the vaccine in Ontario. The government recognizes that getting vaccinated offers benefit to its Citizens by reducing death, hospital admission and doctors’ visits.
Getting the flu can cause you to have fever, fatigue, muscle aches and weakness, headache, cough, runny and stuffy nose. It can cause you to spend days in bed trying to recover. People taking care of you are then at risk of getting the flu.
It’s always a personal choice to decide if you are going to get vaccinated. There is no guarantee that it will prevent you from getting the flu – but it is your best defence. The flu causes about 12,000 hospitalizations and 3500 deaths in Canada every year. Give some time to consider it.
High risk individuals including the elderly, children under 5, pregnant women and those with chronic diseases (e.g., heart problems, asthma, diabetes) are encouraged to get the flu vaccine as they may develop severe complications.
Did you know?
Pharmacists take a vaccine injection certification course and maintain Standard First Aid and CPR/AED Level C.
Healthcare providers and caregivers are always encouraged to get the flu vaccine to prevent them from passing the flu to those within their care.
Experts from Health Canada and Public Health Ontario monitor trends of reported cases.
Bowmanville Clinic Pharmacy will offer the flu shot to people over 5 years of age when it becomes available. Our Pharmacists can help answer your questions or concerns. Drop by and speak with us.
