If you are feeling a little bit under the weather lately, you’re not alone.
It’s the time of year, when some people begin showing symptoms of the flu.
Pharmacist Scott Cameron says the flu presents differently for different people, “When we talk about the flu, it is the typical influenza symptoms including body aches and pains, fever, chills, sore throat, general malaise and fatigue, as well as sometimes vomiting and diarrhoea.”
But he says it’s important you take the flu very seriously, “Every year in Canada, the flu causes about 3500 deaths and actually over 12,000 hospitalizations, depending on the severity of the season.”
It’s recommended that you stay home from work if you are displaying any of the symptoms of the flu, but there are steps to take if you do go anyway, “All you can do is try to make sure you practice good hand hygiene and do what you can do not to make other people sick,” adds Cameron.
Flu shots are now available through various venues across the province, including pharmacies and doctor’s offices.
The flu season typically runs from early November until March or April.
It’s expected to be a nasty flu season in Canada this year, based on the number of cases in Austrailia, where winter just recently ended.
Last week, we asked you whether or not you are planning to get a flu shot.
Forty-seven per cent responded yes, that they always get one. Forty-five per cent said no. Two per cent plan to get one for the very first time and six per cent are still undecided.
