Nicola Valley health-care institutions are getting more flu vaccines to meet the higher than usual demand from Merrittonians.
Pharmasave’s pharmacy manager Ken Dyer told the Herald demand for the vaccine right now is above normal.
“We’ve been very busy,” Dyer said.
“Normally in January we’re starting to taper off on our vaccinations, but we’ve had this burst of activity in the last week or two,” Dyer said. “A lot of people [are] interested in getting the flu shot who haven’t been vaccinated already.”
On Jan. 9, about 15 people came to the pharmacy seeking the flu vaccine, Dyer said.
However, the store’s supply has run out and it is in the process of ordering more.
“We had 30 doses earlier this week and we’ve gone through those already,” Dyer said last week.
It’s not usually difficult to receive enough vaccines to meet the demand, he said.
“Usually the province has an abundance and it has more vaccine than is called for,” Dyer said, noting the prevalence of the flu in the media has likely stirred a higher demand than usual.
Dyer said the provincial government usually buys enough vaccine to immunize about 30 per cent of the population.
Local public health nurse Megan Omasta said the hospital’s public health unit has a limited amount of flu vaccine left.
She said they have made a request for more.
Omasta also said she’s seen a slight increase in demand for the vaccine at the public health unit.
“We normally have a surge of people wanting flu shots in January, so it’s normal, but just a little bit higher than normal,” Omasta said.
Dr. Rob Parker, senior medical health officer for the Interior Health Authority, said IH has used up about 95 per cent of its flu vaccine stock — consisting of 190,000 doses — most of which was used in November and December.
“We still have it in all of our health unit locations, I’ve checked. But if people are looking at pharmacies, it may be hit and miss,” Parker said.
Parker said there isn’t a shortage of the vaccine as health units are carrying it, and it is commonplace to have used most of their stock to immunize people prior to peak flu season in January.
“We’re not out yet. We’ve got vaccine. I’m just saying we may not have enough to resupply each and every pharmacy,” Parker said.
Parker told the Herald there had been 51 reports of lab-confirmed cases of influenza within IH as of Jan. 9.
“That represents only a small portion of all the people out there with influenza,” Parker said, noting not everyone who contracts the flu sees a doctor. They also may never have their illness confirmed to be the flu.
“The absolute number of lab confirmed cases in one way is irrelevant. What it does give us is a bit of a trend,” he said.
Although not every one of these cases has been defined as a specific strain of the flu yet, Parker said that so far, all of them have come back as H1N1.
“I think H1N1 is causing well over 90 per cent of the influenza infections in B.C. right now,” Parker said.
Earlier this month, a 55-year-old Okanagan woman died from H1N1. Hers is the only confirmed death from the virus in the IHA.
Parker said the 51 flu cases are spread evenly across IH with the Okanagan, the Kootenays and Thompson-Nicola each containing about one-third of the infections.
He said he thinks the even distribution of cases and similar scenarios he’s heard of from other authorities indicates the flu bug has spread throughout the province since the Christmas holidays.
Parker said most of the 51 lab-confirmed cases of the flu have come within the last two weeks.
“We didn’t see much influenza in B.C. prior to Christmas,” Parker said, adding he thinks people travelling during the holidays to Alberta may have been a factor in the recent surge of cases.
As of Jan. 7, nine people in Alberta had died from the flu. Of 1,335 confirmed influenza cases, 1,189 were H1N1, according to Kamloops This Week.
Parker said the peak of influenza activity is still about two weeks away, after which it should take another two weeks to wind down.
He said it isn’t unusual to see a strain of influenza dominate the number of infections. However, what is unusual about the flu this year is that it is affecting adults in the 20 to 64 age range more than seniors.
“It’s probably because that group doesn’t have as much immunity to this particular strain (H1N1) as, say, seniors,” Parker said.
He said seniors are not as susceptible to H1N1 because they are more likely to have built up an immunity to it having lived through the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, when similar strains of the virus were circulating.
“H1N1 wasn’t circulating so much in the late ’80s, ’90’s and early 2000s, so they haven’t been exposed to it as much,” Parker said.
He added that even if people in that age group were immunized in 2009 — when H1N1 reached pandemic levels — that immunization has likely faded because they haven’t come across the virus or been immunized since.
“Seniors also get the flu shot every year. They’re pretty good at that,” Parker said, noting the annual flu shot, which contains H1N1, builds up immunity.
For optimal results, it’s best to get the flu shot in the fall, Parker said. It’s recommended that people still receive their flu shot if they haven’t already, he said.
People eligible for the free vaccine — meaning they have a chronic health condition — in the 20 to 64 age range should get the vaccine. He said it’s also recommended for pre-school children.
Dyer said it’s still worth getting vaccinated because the peak of flu activity varies from year to year as flu season lasts until about April.
The vaccine is available in a nasal squirt or via the traditional injection needle.
Merrittonians can call the local health unit in regards to vaccination at 250-378-3400.
The vaccine is also available at doctors’ offices, but not available at the Nicola Valley Hospital and Health Care Centre.
People who come down with flu-like symptoms should stay home and rest for about five days until they feel better and are no longer infectious, Parker said.
