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A medical badistant from Sea Mar Community Health Center gives a patient an influenza vaccine in Seattle on January 11, 2018. (CANADIAN PRESS / AP / Ted S. Warren)
TORONTO – Canadian researchers say this season's influenza vaccine appears to have reduced the risk of infection with the dominant strain of the influenza virus by 72%, which is well above what was seen during last year.
According to Dr. Danuta Skowronski, a senior researcher with the British Columbia Center for Disease Control, the level of protection against the H1N1 virus has been observed in all age groups, including children.
Young children are particularly vulnerable to the H1N1 virus this season. The Public Health Agency of Canada has announced that at least seven children under the age of 10 have died of flu as of January 12th.
Skowronski said that the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing H1N1 infection is comparable to that found by Australia during its last influenza season.
Australia used the same vaccine components as those administered to Canadians and found that it was 78% effective at preventing H1N1 infection in vaccinated individuals.
Skowronski said last season's flu shot was less than 20% effective in keeping Canadians from getting sick during an H3N2 outbreak.
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