By Daryl Major

Spike in flu cases often follows holiday season, health officials warn

Jan 2, 2017 | 7:28 AM

NANAIMO —  Crowded stores, houses full of family and friends — it’s a good way to catch the flu over the holidays.

Gianni Del Negro, a pharmacist with London Drugs, says with so many people around, the virus can spread more easily. However he says there’s still time to take precautions, starting with a flu shot.

“Not only are you protecting yourself but through the herd immunity you’re also protecting others as well,” said Del Negro. “There’s a number of things you can do to try to hopefully prevent yourself from getting the flu in terms of washing your hands frequently. Try not to touch your nose or your mouth because you can spread the virus that way. If you’re coughing, try to cough into your elbow. ”

There had been concerns earlier that this year’s strain may cause more fatalities but Del Negro says the vaccine helped counter the effects.

“One of the strains that was traveling around was the H3N2 which is a more serious strain that tends to cause more mortality or deaths amongst people who are very susceptible to the flu,” he said. “So that was a bit of a concern, but it appears that this year the match was a little bit better so we were more protected.”

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Naturally when people get sick, for a lot of them, they want to head to the hospital. Del Negro says only people seriously ill should go to their local emergency room.

“There’s not a lot that people can do about the flu other than treating the symptoms that come about.”

“Often that’s really a wasted emergency visit. Unless obviously things get extremely serious where you’re having difficulty breathing and those sort of things go see your physician. But for things like headache and achiness and things like that there’s definitely things that we can do to help you.”

He also notes that there appears to have been more outbreaks earlier this season than in previous years.

According to Island Health’s active outbreak list, there are currently no influenza outbreaks listed at any mid-island hospitals or long-term care facilities under their jurisdiction.