Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 30, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A16 A 16 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2015 YOUR HEALTH winnipegfreepress. com 630 Kernaghan Ave, Door 79 | 204.988.0800 ALL SALES ARE FINAL. NO EXCHANGES OR REFUNDS W E D N E S D A Y T O F R I D A Y N O O N .. 8 P M | S AT U R D A Y 9 : 3 0 .. 5 P M Furniture Factory Outlet JANUARY CLEARANCE SALE ne w s t o ck j u s t in 665 Stafford St. ( at Pembina Hwy.) Stafford Square Mall ( Behind Price Choppers) 204- 453- 6473 BEST PRICE GUARANTEE!!! HUGE SELECTION OFWALKERS from $ 185 E ION KERS 85 O 18 2014 Rams Must Go BIG DEAL EVENT 2014 New Truck Event No Reasonable Offer Will Be Refused!!! Sales, Parts, and Service 204- 661- 5337 OUTSIDE WINNIPEG TTOOLLLL FFRREEEE 1- 800- 255- 5337 770000 WWAAVVEERRLLYY AATT BBIISSHHOOPP GGRRAANNDDIINN www. waverleychrysler. ca All prices include freight, $ 1,500 Ram Loyalty or Tradesman credit will be applied at time of purchase. 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HITCH AND SO MUCH MORE RP 65 235 14T07 D 14 P / M $ 2 3,790 $ 319 P/ M P $ 42,890 $ 575 P/ M ic i lude f ight R L al Trad P $ 3 4,190 $ 435 $ 47,890 $ 605 edit ill lied ti f ha Reba d le fl d $ 35,980 $ 464 P/ M $ 3 9,700 $ 505 P/ M P/ M T ORONTO - This year's flu vaccine offers little or no protection in Canada against becoming sick enough to require medical care, a study published Thursday suggests. The research, based on data from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, found the vaccine offers most people virtually no protection against the strain that's causing the lion's share of the illness this year, H3N2. There weren't enough cases of flu caused by H1N1 or influenza B viruses to assess whether the vaccine would have been more protective against them. That may change as the flu season progresses - it is not uncommon to see late- season surges of influenza B illness. But for now, this year's shots' performance looks pretty dismal. " I would say overall it's signalling no protection," said lead author Dr. Danuta Skowronski, an influenza expert at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. The study, an interim estimate of this year's flu- vaccine effectiveness, was published Thursday in Eurosurveillance, an online journal belonging to the European Centre for Disease Control. Skowronski said the message people should take from the study is if they are at high risk of developing pneumonia or getting seriously ill if they contract influenza, they should take other steps to protect their health. " There's still H3N2 circulating. So probably the most important message to get out now is for high- risk individuals not to count on vaccine to have protected them this season," she said, noting those steps include avoiding people who are ill and going to the doctor to get a prescription for a flu antiviral drug if they become infected. " Other backup options should come to the fore, because the vaccine protection is so disappointing this year." Health authorities in other jurisdictions have been putting out that message, as well. On Thursday, the New York City Health Department issued a health- alert notification urging doctors city- wide to prescribe influenza antiviral medications to all high- risk or severely ill patients suspected of having the flu. An interesting finding of the study is people who did not get a flu shot last year appeared to get more protection from the vaccine this year than people who got shots both years. For those people, the vaccine appeared to offer about 43 per cent protection against developing influenza that required medical help. There is an emerging school of thought that repeated vaccination in some circumstances may undermine the protectiveness of the vaccine. Skowronski said the area needs additional research. Earlier this month the U. S. Centers for Disease Control published interim vaccine- effectiveness data for that country. The flu season south of the border has been very similar to the one in Canada - almost all caused by H3N2 - and their early findings suggest the vaccine lowered a recipient's risk of contracting the flu and getting sick enough to need medical care by 23 per cent. That's well below the 50 to 70 per cent effectiveness estimate that is often cited for flu vaccine. The Canadian estimate was a negative figure, minus eight per cent. That doesn't mean the vaccine made people who received a flu shot more susceptible to getting the flu. The confidence intervals - the range within which the true number falls - went from well below zero to 23 per cent. But because the numbers cross zero, the study did not find a statistically significant benefit of the vaccine. - The Canadian Press Flu shot offers little protection this year By Helen Branswell TOBY TALBOT / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES You gave it a shot, but the flu vaccine may not have helped you this year. A_ 20_ Jan- 30- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A16 1/ 29/ 15 6: 01: 23 PM ;