By Bruce Cochrane.
The Western College of Veterinary Medicine is encouraging the public to get the flu shot to protect both themselves and those around them.
Influenza is viral infection that infects mostly the upper respiratory tract of most mammals but it can move down into the lungs and cause pneumonia.
Dr. Susan Detmer, a veterinary pathologist with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, says protecting yourself and the people around you will reduce the amount of virus going around.
Clip-Dr. Susan Detmer-Western College of Veterinary Medicine:
If you have influenza and you have a fever, that's when you are shedding the most virus, is that 24 to 48 hours after you are infected.
At that point you should not be around other people because you could give it to someone who could not get vaccinated and, because you want to help the other people around you you should get vaccinated.
It will also help you because, even if you just have partial protection, it could potentially help you get over your infection must faster.
As far as livestock producers go, especially people who work with pigs, you should get vaccinated because every year I see whole herds break with pandemic H1N1 virus and it's a new introduction from someone working on the farm who brings the virus with them to work and spreads it to the herd.
If you consider the cost of the vaccine.
There is a pandemic vaccine you can use in pigs but if you had to pay for all two thousand pigs on that farm to be vaccinated, it's much more expensive than going to the pharmacy or one of the flu clinics or your personal physician and getting the vaccine for free because it's part of the provincial health care program.
Dr. Detmer says the best time to get vaccinated is during October or November.
Source: Farmscape