Get a flu shot, despite low potency against common strain: N.B. health expert

FREDERICTON – According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 236 Canadians have died from flu-associated deaths so far this season and five of those were New Brunswickers.

New Brunswick’s office of public health says the best way to keep those numbers down is for people to get the vaccine.

“It’s really, really important,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, deputy chief medical officer of health. “Now would be the time, it’s not too late.”

READ MORE: Flu season peaking; sick should head to bed

The flu shot has an H3N2 component in it, as it does every year. But when experts met last February to select the strains for this year’s flu shot, a particular type of H3N2 was dominant. Since then, new varieties have emerged and they are different enough from the vaccine virus that it is assumed the flu shot will only offer modest protection — about 20 to 30 per cent effectiveness — against them.

But Dr. Russell says if you’re not getting your flu shot because of that, you should reconsider.

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“It does cover many strains, there is one particular strain it doesn’t cover but the ones that it does cover it’s really, really important to get the flu shot because again, those strains, we haven’t seen the peak of those circulating yet,” she said.

As of last week, there’s been 258 confirmed cases of this flu in New Brunswick. While it looks like the number of people getting a vaccine is up, some pharmacists say they’ve noticed a difference in the past month.

“We saw a lot flu vaccines be administered here in the province during October, November, December,” said pharmacist Alistair Bursey. “But we’ve seen that sort of taper off. ”

Bursey says even if you’re healthy, to think of others.

“It’s also about protecting people that don’t have strong immune systems, people that are vulnerable, little kids, so it’s important to protect everyone,” he said.