Getting the Flu Shot More Important than Ever

Farmscape for October 9, 2020

An Associate Professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathology with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine says, in light of COVID-19 it will be more important this fall than ever to get vaccinated for the flu.
Typically only about 20 percent of the population gets vaccinated each year against influenza.
Dr. Susan Detmer, an Associate Professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathology with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, says, given the risk presented by COVID, it's hoped that number will increase this year.

Clip-Dr. Susan Detmer-Western College of Veterinary Medicine:
We're finding with COVID virus, the SARS type 2 virus, that causes COVID-19, what we're finding is that they're having respiratory issues months after they're infected.
When you have your respiratory system not fully being able to get a deep breath, your cilia that are part of your respiratory defence system are not fully active, all of these things make you more suspectable to getting another respiratory infection.
Anyone who was infected with COVID over the last several months is actually more susceptible to getting influenza and having a bad case of influenza where they could be hospitalized.
For those people it's absolutely crucial that they gat vaccinated and they need to talk to their doctor about that.
For the people who haven't had COVID yet, if you get influenza and you're sick with influenza and you haven't been vaccinated, that's a period of two to three weeks of recovering where your lungs and your respiratory tract are recovering from the influenza virus.
All of that time you're more suspectable, your defences are down and your body is fighting that influenza, you need to be very careful that you don't get COVID because the two viruses together could be an incredibly dangerous mix.

Dr. Detmer says, by staying at home when sick, working from home when possible, getting the flu shot, washing hands and wearing a mask, we have a huge opportunity to reduce the spread of influenza and COVID disease.
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Bruce Cochrane.

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