Flu vaccination questioned
The Wyandotte Marion walk-in clinic at the corner of McDougall Street and Wyandotte Street East offers flu shots. Windsorites are encouraged to get yearly flu shots to prevent the spread of infection. (Photo By/ Madison Duggan)
This year’s flu vaccine has added ingredients designed to make it more effective, but this year’s flu season is turning out to be one of the worst according to a local doctor.
Windsor physician Dr. Nicole St. Amour said the flu season started as early as Christmas and has continued into March. An antidote in the vaccine is designed to improve the immune system’s response to the vaccine itself.
St. Amour said she did see a higher than average rate of people coming in to be treated for the flu.
“The flu shot is very good at reducing the effects of the flu,” said St. Amour. “The flu shot is not 100 per cent guaranteed to prevent the infection but it reduces the effects so drastically a person may not realize they are fighting is the flu. The amount of patients I see is usually over a week or two, this year it was about six to seven weeks”.
Gynecologist Dr. John Tomc recommends women who are pregnant, especially in their second or third trimester, get the flu shot. Pregnant women are at a higher risk of complications because of the flu, causing hospitalization.
“The flu shot reduces the odds of getting the flu by 70-90 per cent,” said Tomc. It depends on how early you get the shot, your age, and how well the companies who make the vaccine have matched the strain for the flu that year.
The probability that flu vaccines will prevent the illness varies from year to year.
International public health officials estimate which strains of influenza will be the most common in the coming year and generate a vaccine based on that guess. The components for the next year’s flu vaccine have already been selected.
Tomc said to consult with a doctor before getting the flu shot.
“If the patient has allergies to any components of the vaccine, severe allergy to eggs, previous severe reaction the shot and especially if the patient has guillain-barre syndrome, then they should not receive the shot,” said Tomc.
It’s not too late to get the flu shot. For more information about the flu vaccine, visit your family physician.
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