By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit Medical Officer of Health Dr. Natalie Bocking expressed optimism about the upcoming flu season as she addressed the November Board of Health meeting.
“The Universal Influenza Immunization Program has been launched and is rolling out across the province, largely offered through pharmacies and primary care, but somewhat co-ordinated through the health unit,” Dr. Bocking said.
Immunization clinics are being offered for children under the age of five who do not have primary health-care providers, and pharmacies can offer vaccinations for children as young as two years of age.
“To date, there are nine cases in Ontario identified in this season so far, and no outbreaks. I think we are still hopeful that we will not see as many cases a we typically see in an influenza season, but we should expect we will see a higher number than we did last year when there was essentially no influenza – certainly in our jurisdiction, and very minimal in the province.”
Also of concern are the respiratory viruses whose incidence also rises in the winter and spread easily in such congregate settings as day cares and long-term-care homes. Dr. Bocking said there are currently two outbreaks of that in the HKPR jurisdiction.
“It’s not as resource-intensive as COVID-19 or influenza outbreaks, but still results in some disruptions to services and programming at those facilities.”
