TORONTO – A new poll suggests increasing numbers of adults in their child-rearing years are becoming convinced that getting a flu shot for themselves and their children is a good idea.
The Harris-Decima poll, done for The Canadian Press, found that those aged 18 to 34 and those with children in their households were the two demographics which had the highest rates of flu-shot converts than any other.
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With this year’s flu season shaping up to be an H1N1 year, that’s a good thing.
Newly released data from researchers at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control suggests children under five are among the most vulnerable to this family of flu viruses.
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In a report published on the online disease monitoring system ProMed, the researchers say less than 20 per cent of children under age five have antibodies to H1N1 viruses.
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Adults aged 20 to 39 and 40 to 69 are also less likely to have antibodies that protect against H1N1, with 45 to 50 per cent and 35 to 40 per cent respectively showing antibody protection.
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