Fewer Canadians choosing to get flu shot

TORONTO, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Doctors in Canada say as the flu season gets under way fewer Canadians are choosing to get flu shots, a trend they call worrisome.

As the flu season progresses, health officials say they are concerned that more Canadians will fall ill if vaccination rates remain low.

"We don't know for sure yet, we haven't seen the data, but the evidence is that not as many people got their flu shot this year as usually get it," Dr. Allison McGeer, head of infection control at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, told CTV News Tuesday.

In Toronto, public health officials say 20 percent fewer people have received the annual flu shot at city clinics compared to the numbers receiving one in 2008 and 2009.

With less vaccine protecting people, that means the possibility of more flu cases and possibly more deaths, McGeer said.

"Seasonal flu does a lot of damage, causes a lot of deaths every year and the more of us who get our flu shots, the better protected we are," she said.

Dr. Irene Armstrong, Toronto's associate medical officer of health, says it's unclear why so many people have neglected to get the shot, but officials speculate "it has something to do with last year's pandemic."

"There were a lot of campaigns and media attention encouraging people to get vaccinated, but it turned out to be a mild flu season and a mild pandemic, so perhaps it has fallen off people's radar," Armstrong said.