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WHAT'S NEW
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Should you get a flu shot?
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It's a decision every Canadian must face amid a bombardment of ads, advice and reports of an inevitable pandemic.
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By Allan Britnell
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The scoop on avian flu
Bird flu is big news for good reason. There were three pandemic flu viruses that originated in animals in the 20th century. The most devastating occurred at the end of the First World War and killed an estimated 40 to 50 million people worldwide (more than were killed during the war itself). Scientists are almost unanimous in agreeing that another pandemic is a "when" not "if" scenario.
The current strain of avian flu that's ruffling feathers, known as H5N1, first appeared in Asia in 1996. Since then, millions of birds have been killed by the virus or in culls attempting to control its spread. As of August 2006, the World Health Organization had tallied 141 human deaths in nine countries attributed to H5N1, where it had leapt from bird to human.
The good news is that, so far at least, avian flu seems to be transmitted only from infected birds to people and it is not spread easily or rapidly from one person to another.
Health officials worry that someone infected with avian flu will also catch one of the common flu strains going around. The fear is that the two viruses will mix, creating a new contagious strain.
There is currently no vaccine available for H5N1 -- your annual flu shot offers little or no protection -- and if bird flu does cross mutate into a person-to-person infectious strain, it would take several months to develop one.
For the record
Childhood immunization schedules vary from province to province, but they generally follow the guidelines recommended by the federal government's National Advisory Committee on Immunization.
In addition to their annual flu shot, adults should have tetanus and diphtheria "booster" shots every 10 years and an MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) shot if they were born after 1970 and have not already had one. Seniors and those with specific health problems (including HIV and sickle cell disease) should get the pneumococcal vaccine, which helps prevent meningitis and pneumonia.
Those with potential occupational exposure or who will be travelling to areas where certain diseases are endemic may also be advised to have vaccines for hepatitis, Lyme disease, rabies, typhoid and yellow fever, among others. Consult your doctor or a travel medicine clinic.
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