TORONTO -- As the Public Health Agency of Canada prepares for what could be a long and severe flu season, one Ontario man is urging everyone to get the vaccine before it鈥檚 too late.
Last year, Kevin Salmon, a 37-year-old father from Acton, Ont., decided against getting his flu shot, but he eventually contracted the virus from his daughter and it left him hospitalized for two months.
鈥淚 was having troubling breathing, so I鈥檓 like: 鈥業鈥檓 calling 911, I鈥檓 going to the hospital鈥欌�� he told 麻豆影视. 鈥淎fter that I don't remember really anything until I woke up again.鈥�
Salmon ended up contracting flu-related pneumonia and was forced into a medically induced coma for two weeks.
鈥淭hey said I almost died a couple of times and I was the sickest person in Oakville,鈥� he said.
While, Salmon has a newfound respect for the influenza virus and the vaccine meant to protect him from it, data from Statistics Canada suggests only one third of Canadians above the age of 12 get the flu shot every year, while a apathy with the flu shot is rising, with 33 per cent of those who don鈥檛 plan on getting the vaccine indicating they don鈥檛 believe it鈥檚 effective, and another 29 per cent indicating they don鈥檛 believe they need it.
Salmon is far from the only Canadian to be sent to the hospital after contracting the influenza virus, either.
鈥淓very year, about12,000 or more Canadians end up being hospitalized for flu-related complications,鈥� said Dr. Howard Njoo, the deputy chief public health officer for the Public Health Agency of Canada.鈥淏etween three- and four-thousand individuals actually die as a result of the illness. So, for me it makes common sense that you should get your flu shot."
While the effectiveness of the flu vaccine varies every year, studies suggest a person hospitalized for influenza is two to five times more likely to die if they weren鈥檛 vaccinated.
It鈥檚 still too early to predict what flu season will look like this year, experts typically look to the southern hemisphere for an idea of what to expect.
Australia, where the flu season typically runs from May until October, has been dealing with a longer than usual flu season, where 3,915 people have been sent to hospital with the virus and 812 have died thus far,
鈥淲e had a very extended season,鈥� said Ian Barr, the deputy director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza.
鈥淪ometimes the severity gets a little bit lost because it鈥檚 over a longer period, but in terms of number of cases, number of deaths, and number of hospitalizations, it will be close to, if not the biggest season we鈥檝e had in the past 20 years.鈥�
With Canada鈥檚 flu season on the horizon, Health Canada is preparing for a season similar to Australia鈥檚 and is sending 11.2 million doses of the flu vaccine to clinics across the country, which are expected to be available by the end of October.
that anyone six months of age and older should get the flu vaccine, especially if you are 65 years of age or older, live in a nursing home or are pregnant or planning to become pregnant.
Ontario provides this version of the drug free of charge. Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Northwest Territories offer the higher-dose vaccine in long term-care facilities.
for a list of clinics across Canada offering the vaccine.
