Middlesex-London Health Unit sees low flu activity early into season

As the region deals with challenges in flu shot availability, the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) is reporting very low flu activity with “no influenza cases reported to date.”

That’s according to Dr. Alex Summers, the associate medical officer of health for London and Middlesex County.

“It’s important to note that flu season starts at different times every year. Sometimes it happens early, sometimes it happens late. That being said, by mid-November, where we are now, we would still expect some kind of activity and we are seeing low levels this year,” Summers said.

The news mirrors much of what’s being seen across Ontario, with Summers noting that between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7, the province saw no cases of influenza reported.

To compare with the previous flu season, the final MLHU influenza report for 2019-2020, released in April, noted that more than 300 cases had been reported since Sept. 2019.

Summers says the low activity is being driven in part by the measures and restrictions brought on amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“Wearing a mask, physically distancing, keeping your circle small, this helps disrupt all types of viral respiratory illness transmission, including influenza,” Summer said.

“We’ve also seen a tremendous uptake in flu vaccine this year.”

Summers adds that getting a flu shot has become an issue for some, with supply being stretched in the region as well as other parts of Ontario. Despite the challenges, he says there is an upside to a low supply in vaccines.

“It means that we’ve had more people take the flu shot this year than have in recent years and that’s an excellent story,” Summers said.

“There is more coming and we’re still early in flu season, so it’s not too late to go and get it and if you’re getting it over the next couple of weeks, that still makes a huge difference.”

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While early data has shown promising results, concerns linger about a potential “twindemic” arriving over the winter.

“The fear of two viruses causing hospitalizations associated with respiratory illness is a very real one,” Summers said.

“We certainly wanted to plan for that and if we end up in a position where we don’t have much of a flu season this year, that’s just good news, frankly.”

For those seeking a flu shot, Summers recommends visiting your family doctor or nurse practitioner.

“If you don’t have a family physician, you don’t have a health card and you’re under the age of five, the health unit can help you out, but for the most part, it’s most convenient to check out those pharmacies or to check out your primary care provider,” Summers said.

Rexall previously reported that it has cancelled flu shot appointments as it deals with a shortage of supply.

Shoppers Drug Mart maintains a supply list for vaccines online, but as of Wednesday afternoon, no stores had the flu shot available in London and Middlesex County, according to its online flu shot finder.

Walmart is allowing folks to book flu shot appointments in advance by calling their local pharmacy or through their website.

A number of other local pharmacies are following similar procedures.

In the meantime, there are still things you can do to prevent getting sick.

“You want to prevent flu, you want to prevent COVID, do the physical distancing,” Summers said.

“Keeping your close contacts to just those within your immediate household is so critical right now and we really, really hope that people take that to heart.”