If you had the flu vaccine last season and still got the flu, you might be wondering, why bother this year? Last year, the vaccine was indeed a bit of a disappointment.
The Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network researches the annual efficacy of the vaccine. It found last year’s shot was only 17 per cent effective in preventing respiratory illness from H3N2 overall, the dominant A strain of influenza, and only 10 per cent effective for adults aged 20 to 64.
It was better at warding off respiratory illness caused by the dominant B strain of influenza; about 55 per cent effective.
Still, not great.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s FluWatch, there were 64,403 lab-confirmed cases of influenza in Canada last season, mostly Influenza A/H3N2. There were 302 deaths directly attributed to influenza, including nine children.
