Don’t give the gift of the flu this season
VANCOUVER — As influenza ramps up into the holiday season, the BC Centre for Disease Control is warning British Columbians to make sure they’re vaccinated.
High-risk individuals and their close contacts should be vaccinated as soon as possible, influenza lead at the BCCDC Dr. Danuta Skowronski says.
“Our monitoring suggests the influenza epidemic will coincide with the festive period in a couple of weeks,” she says. “Since it takes about two weeks for the influenza vaccine to induce protection, now is the time for high-risk individuals and their close contacts to get vaccinated, if they haven’t already.”
High-risk individuals include those with underlying medical conditions like heart and lung disease, or those with weakened immune systems that make it harder to fight respiratory infections. Complications like pneumonia can be life-threatening for some people and can lead to death.