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Seasonal flu could be lurking until H1N1 abates
Meagan Fitzpatrick, Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, November 20, 2009
OTTAWA - Canadians should be prepared to roll up their sleeves a second time for the seasonal flu shot when it's available for them, experts say.
Most provinces and territories first made their seasonal flu vaccine available in October and targeted only senior citizens. They later switched to the swine flu vaccine when it was approved, with the intention of resuming the seasonal flu shot campaign once the H1N1 program is finished.
But reports that the H1N1 virus is the dominant flu strain that is circulating have Canadians wondering whether they should bother protecting themselves against the seasonal flu. The answer, according to some medical experts, is yes.
"The best strategy right now is to make sure people are immunized both against the pandemic H1N1, as well as the seasonal flu influenza strains that we have been seeing on an annual basis," said Dr. Gerald Evans, chief of the infectious disease division at Kingston General Hospital and an associate professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.
The pandemic H1N1 virus accounts for nearly 100 per cent of cases tested for an influenza A virus. That doesn't necessarily mean the H1N1 virus is pushing the seasonal flu viruses aside however, said Evans, or, that it will continue to dominate throughout the winter.
"It would be very unusual to see a lot of seasonal flu popping up now," he said. It's simply not the seasonal flu season yet.
A normal flu season typically runs from December to April.
The H1N1 virus is also dominant because it's a new, highly transmissible virus that many people don't have any immunity to, and so it has the potential to make far more people sick.
Evans and his colleagues say, however, there is no way to predict what will happen this flu season.
Possible scenarios include the H1N1 virus remaining the dominant flu strain, or, it could wane - especially if a high number of Canadians are vaccinated - and the seasonal flu viruses could take over. It's also possible the viruses could all be circulating at the same time.
"We're all hoping that the H1N1 is going to go away certainly by Christmas, which leaves a good two, three months when another flu virus could quite happily come back in," said Dr. Brian Ward, chief of the infectious diseases division at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal.
He said he is advising his patients who are at high risk of getting sick, including pregnant women, the elderly and those with debilitating conditions, to get both vaccines.
"I think all of those people should stick their arm out again and get the seasonal flu vaccine when it's offered to them," he said.
In Ontario, the Ministry of Health says it plans to resume "Phase 3" of its flu vaccination campaign but when, is uncertain.
"We're looking carefully at the rollout of the whole issue of the seasonal program right now," said Dr. Arlene King, Ontario's chief medical officer, in a news conference this week. Ontario bought six million doses of the seasonal flu shot and about 1.5 million were distributed between late September and Oct. 21, when the province began sending out the H1N1 vaccine to its regional health authorities.
In many provinces, people currently can get the seasonal shot through their doctor's offices and some public clinics are offering both the H1N1 and seasonal shot upon request.
Alberta, which ordered two million doses of seasonal flu vaccine, held mass clinics on Oct.13 that were open to anyone, whereas other provinces only targeted the elderly.
"We wanted to get as many people done with the seasonal before the H1N1 vaccine arrived," said John Tuckwell, an Alberta Health and Wellness spokesman, adding that one million doses were made available for distribution and the rest is in storage.
"We hope to resume the seasonal (flu shots) in January," he said. "It is
H1N1 that is predominant but there are other strains that are likely to start circulating and, therefore, it will be important once the H1N1 campaign is wrapped up, to continue with the seasonal."
One province that won't resume a seasonal flu shot campaign is New Brunswick. It bought 220,000 doses of seasonal flu vaccine - 50,000 more than usual - and used them all up in the month of October. British Columbia also ordered 135,000 more doses than usual because of the heightened awareness about influenza and vaccinations since the H1N1 pandemic started in the spring.
Most jurisdictions don't know yet how many seasonal flu shots were actually put in people's arms in October, it will be several months before that data is reported.
Meagan Fitzpatrick, Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, November 20, 2009
OTTAWA - Canadians should be prepared to roll up their sleeves a second time for the seasonal flu shot when it's available for them, experts say.
Most provinces and territories first made their seasonal flu vaccine available in October and targeted only senior citizens. They later switched to the swine flu vaccine when it was approved, with the intention of resuming the seasonal flu shot campaign once the H1N1 program is finished.
But reports that the H1N1 virus is the dominant flu strain that is circulating have Canadians wondering whether they should bother protecting themselves against the seasonal flu. The answer, according to some medical experts, is yes.
"The best strategy right now is to make sure people are immunized both against the pandemic H1N1, as well as the seasonal flu influenza strains that we have been seeing on an annual basis," said Dr. Gerald Evans, chief of the infectious disease division at Kingston General Hospital and an associate professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.
The pandemic H1N1 virus accounts for nearly 100 per cent of cases tested for an influenza A virus. That doesn't necessarily mean the H1N1 virus is pushing the seasonal flu viruses aside however, said Evans, or, that it will continue to dominate throughout the winter.
"It would be very unusual to see a lot of seasonal flu popping up now," he said. It's simply not the seasonal flu season yet.
A normal flu season typically runs from December to April.
The H1N1 virus is also dominant because it's a new, highly transmissible virus that many people don't have any immunity to, and so it has the potential to make far more people sick.
Evans and his colleagues say, however, there is no way to predict what will happen this flu season.
Possible scenarios include the H1N1 virus remaining the dominant flu strain, or, it could wane - especially if a high number of Canadians are vaccinated - and the seasonal flu viruses could take over. It's also possible the viruses could all be circulating at the same time.
"We're all hoping that the H1N1 is going to go away certainly by Christmas, which leaves a good two, three months when another flu virus could quite happily come back in," said Dr. Brian Ward, chief of the infectious diseases division at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal.
He said he is advising his patients who are at high risk of getting sick, including pregnant women, the elderly and those with debilitating conditions, to get both vaccines.
"I think all of those people should stick their arm out again and get the seasonal flu vaccine when it's offered to them," he said.
In Ontario, the Ministry of Health says it plans to resume "Phase 3" of its flu vaccination campaign but when, is uncertain.
"We're looking carefully at the rollout of the whole issue of the seasonal program right now," said Dr. Arlene King, Ontario's chief medical officer, in a news conference this week. Ontario bought six million doses of the seasonal flu shot and about 1.5 million were distributed between late September and Oct. 21, when the province began sending out the H1N1 vaccine to its regional health authorities.
In many provinces, people currently can get the seasonal shot through their doctor's offices and some public clinics are offering both the H1N1 and seasonal shot upon request.
Alberta, which ordered two million doses of seasonal flu vaccine, held mass clinics on Oct.13 that were open to anyone, whereas other provinces only targeted the elderly.
"We wanted to get as many people done with the seasonal before the H1N1 vaccine arrived," said John Tuckwell, an Alberta Health and Wellness spokesman, adding that one million doses were made available for distribution and the rest is in storage.
"We hope to resume the seasonal (flu shots) in January," he said. "It is
H1N1 that is predominant but there are other strains that are likely to start circulating and, therefore, it will be important once the H1N1 campaign is wrapped up, to continue with the seasonal."
One province that won't resume a seasonal flu shot campaign is New Brunswick. It bought 220,000 doses of seasonal flu vaccine - 50,000 more than usual - and used them all up in the month of October. British Columbia also ordered 135,000 more doses than usual because of the heightened awareness about influenza and vaccinations since the H1N1 pandemic started in the spring.
Most jurisdictions don't know yet how many seasonal flu shots were actually put in people's arms in October, it will be several months before that data is reported.
