People are also being informed that prevention of the ailment is mainly related to proper care of hygiene and hygienic practices that also include careful handling of birds and other foreign objects.
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Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Martin Lavoie says it’s not too late to get your shot.
Karachi Health Services here on Thursday attempted to sensitize people as how to avert any possibility of aggravated stage of Influenza (flu).
The groups most at risk of becoming extremely ill from influenza are the elderly, infants, and people with chronic medical conditions.
“So far from what we have been able to see, it appears the vaccine we have out this year is working”, he said.
Two of the people who died were in Calgary; three were in Edmonton.
“Influenza can be quite severe in a number of people and this year is more on the late side than average but that’s still more than normal limits and serves as a reminder to get people immunized”.
The doctors also speculated some people may not be getting the vaccine because last year’s was “a significant mismatch” to the strain of flu, and not very effective, but Lavoie calls that “an oddity”.
Predy said influenza worsens symptoms in patients already struggling with another disease, and in that sense, influenza is linked to more than 300 deaths every flu season.
The process begins in the winter of the preceding year, and by February, the World Health Organization and the CDC decide which viruses will be included in the vaccine for the next flu season.
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“This outbreak that’s just started H1N1 is predominating and the vaccine – all the tests in the vaccine – have shown that the vaccine is highly protective against that particular strain of H1N1”, said Dr. Predy.
