As Windsor-Essex residents grapple with the worst flu bug in years, the number of confirmed cases is on the rise.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit reports there have been 220 cases thus far, as well as more than 10 flu-related deaths across the region since the start of the season in November.
The hospital has also reported many cases, and a number of flu outbreaks this season.
The health unit’s Manager of Infectious Disease Prevention Lora Piccinin encourages residents to get the flu shot.
Piccinin tells CTV News less than half of the population in Windsor-Essex gets the flu vaccine.
“If 80 per cent of our population got the flu shot, we would get what’s called herd immunity, meaning the bulk of the population is protected,” says Piccinin. “We’re only at about 40 per cent.”
“So as a health unit we encourage everyone but we focus mostly on those that are high risk, so those that are elderly and those that have chronic health conditions,” adds Piccinin.
Flu shots are still available through your local doctor’s office and at local pharmacies.
