Mild flu seasons the past two years could give way to an uptick this winter, says a Lambton public health spokesperson.
Mild flu seasons during the past two years could give way to an uptick this winter, a Lambton public health spokesperson says.
“Based on what was seen in the southern hemisphere this past flu season,” said health protection supervisor Crystal Palleschi, noting Ontario cases have also recently been on the rise.
“Really, the flu shot is one of your best defenses against the flu, so we recommend that everyone gets that as soon as it becomes available to them,” she said.
Bookings for upcoming community clinics opened on Monday, health unit officials said.
Eight public health clinics are planned from Nov. 1 to Nov. 10 while the vaccines are also available through 36 community pharmacies and various health-care providers, Palleschi said.
She also encouraged people to follow recommendations like hand-washing and staying home when sick to curb the spread of various viruses during respiratory illness season.
There was just one laboratory-confirmed influenza case in Lambton last flu season while no deaths or outbreaks were recorded. In the 2020-21 flu season, there was also just a single confirmed case.
Those muted seasons are a significant departure from the 62 confirmed cases reported in 2019-20.
As to why the past two seasons have been so mild, Palleschi said it may be linked to decreased testing influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic or the restrictions that were in place keeping people inside, masked and distanced from others.
Those restrictions have mostly disappeared, she said, “so I do expect that we will see more cases than we have in the previous two years.”
Flu shot uptake between public health, pharmacies and health-care providers in Lambton last season was at about 27,000, which was down slightly from about 32,500 a year earlier.
Public health officials noted in a press release masks are still required in clinical settings and asked people to not come to vaccination appointments if sick.
Appointments can be booked at getthevaccine.ca while help with booking is available at 226-254-8222.
Lambton public health flu vaccine clinics
- Dawn-Euphemia Community Center: Nov. 2, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- Lambton public health main office: Nov. 5, 10 am to 4 pm
- Point Edward Optimist Hall: Nov. 1, 8 and 15, 9 am. to 4 p.m.
- The Shores Recreation Centre: Nov. 9, 9:30 am to 4 pm
- Wyoming Fairgrounds: Nov. 3 and 10, 9:30 am to 4 pm