Alberta Health Services confirmed four cases of influenza earlier this month and health officials are urging people to get vaccinated when the clinics open next week.
Last year almost 920,000 Albertans were immunized with both the injectable vaccine and Flumist, the live attenuated nasal spray vaccine that was offered for the first time with the annual immunization program.
Research has shown that Flumist has increased effectiveness compared to its injectable counterpart for the two-year-old to 17-year-old age group.
“A lot of people appreciated the choice. There were a lot of moms and dads who felt it was a better delivery method,” said Dr. James Talbot, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health.
He noted that some people felt the injectable vaccines were more reliable, and are under the impression that, “if the medicine isn’t bitter it can’t be doing any good,” which isn’t the case.
Alberta Health Services will have both Flumist and injectable vaccines available for public immunization clinics that kick off Oct. 21.
Compared to the traditional injectable vaccine that is inactive (viruses are destroyed and cannot replicate), the nasal spray is a live attenuated vaccine, which means it contains live but very weak influenza viruses.
The viruses stay in the nasal passages and stimulate your immune system to create antibodies, but cannot travel into the lungs and cause disease.
Talbot said there is a common misconception that a flu vaccination will give you the flu. He said the common explanation for experiencing flu-like symptoms after getting the vaccination is exposure to influenza before being immunized.
“It takes seven to 10 days for the immune system to build up to protective levels. You can get the flu before the protection kicks in,” he said.
Flumist has comparable side effects to the traditional injectable vaccine such as sore throat, muscle aches, chills and fever, but also has mild symptoms associated with the site it is absorbed through.
“You can get nasal congestion, runny nose and a bit more cough, decreased appetite,” acknowledged Talbot. “And this is probably related to the fact that we spray into the mouth/nose cavity.”
People that should not receive the nasal spray vaccine include those under the age of two, older than 59, allergic to egg proteins (a component of the mist), suffer from immunosuppressive or chronic heart conditions or chronic lung conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.
High-risk groups – children, people over the age of 65 and those with chronic disease such as hypertension, obesity, heart and lung problems – should get vaccinated.
Talbot said prevention against influenza isn’t just about immunization; people need to take other precautions such as regularly washing their hands.
“Think seriously about doing everything you can to not infect other people,” he urged.
“If you’re working in an office and you get infected and you decide to go into work anyways, you might infect a dad of a newborn. The dad gets infected, the newborn gets infected and then might require hospitalization, that’s not something you want to live with.”
He recommended that if you do catch the flu, give everyone else a break and stay home, drink plenty of fluids and get lots of rest.
Across Canada on a yearly basis there are as many as 4,000 deaths from influenza and 20,000 hospitalizations.
Vaccines are offered for free to every Albertan six months of age and older at public immunization clinics and some pharmacies and physician offices.
An immunization clinic will be open at Grandin Park Plaza at 22 Sir Winston Churchill Avenue starting Oct. 21 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
