After two years of record low flu rates, experts are warning that the flu is likely to be back at it this season.
This is due to the general lifting of pandemic health measures such as mandatory masking, collection size limits and travel restrictions, Greater Victoria pharmacist Kim Myers says.
“It definitely increases the spread of germs and colds.”
Health Canada estimates that during the non-pandemic year about 12,200 Canadians are hospitalized with the flu or flu-like symptoms. Getting an exact number is difficult because only nine of the country’s provinces and territories report hospitalizations to the national flu surveillance system, FluWatch.
Influenza hospitalizations declined during the pandemic
Of those that do — Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan — 5,176 flu-related hospitalizations were reported during the 2017-2018 season and 3,657 in 2018-2019.
During the 2019-2020 season, half of which occurred within the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 2,493 hospitalizations. That number dropped to zero in 2020-2021, again not including Ontario, Quebec, BC or Nunavut.
Myers says it’s hard to know if this year’s flu season will be as bad as the years before the pandemic, but it will almost certainly be worse than the last year or two. She says the awareness the pandemic has raised about the importance of vaccines has her hoping more people will get the flu shot this year. He already says that people who come into his pharmacy ask when there will be vaccinations.
Possible correlation between COVID-19 and flu vaccine uptake
BC saw a small increase in flu vaccine uptake in the first year of the pandemic. In 2018, 34.6% of people received the vaccine, followed by 37.2% in 2019 and then 42.1% in 2020, according to Statistics Canada. Rates for 2021 are not yet available.
A 2021 research paper published in the medical journal Vaccine found that the main predictor of whether Canadians will get vaccinated is whether they have been vaccinated before, suggesting that those who received the COVID vaccine also have more odds of getting the flu now.
More than 87 percent of British Columbians have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine as of September 26.
Beginning in early October, BC residents will have the option to receive both their COVID vaccine boosters and flu shots at the same time. The province says it will have the capacity to vaccinate about 250,000 people a week in this way.
READ ALSO: 4th doses of COVID-19 vaccine to be distributed in BC as Omicron targeted vaccinations arrive
Who is most affected?
For most people, the flu means up to a week of illness, but for young children, the elderly, and the immunocompromised, the virus can make it significantly more difficult to fight off infections. Health Canada says 3,500 deaths are flu-related each year, although that number is based on a mathematical estimate rather than actual annual data.
Myers says the best thing people can do to stop the spread of the virus and protect the most vulnerable is to follow many of the same precautions established for COVID-19: get vaccinated, wash your hands, wear a mask, to stay. stay home if you are sick and minimize the number of crowded public outings.
“It’s not just for themselves, it’s trying to do it for those around them who are vulnerable and for those who can’t get vaccines. It’s important that we try to do it to help protect them,” he says Myers.
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Coronavirus Flu season Health vaccines