Reduce your chances of getting flu

25. January 2015 · Write a comment · Categories: Science Scribe, Victoria Times Colonist · Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Flu vaccination. Photo © U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District, via flickr & Creative Commons

Flu vaccination. Photo © U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District, via flickr & Creative Commons

With the annual flu season underway, the annual influenza-related controversies are also making the rounds.

They started last summer, with problems at Canada’s main flu-vaccine production facility in Quebec. A shortfall of vaccine doses resulted, forcing the Canada’s Public Health Agency to place orders with other suppliers.

By the start of flu season in November, it became known that this year’s flu-vaccine missed the virus bull’s eye. The World Health Organization decides each spring which strains of influenza to target in the year’s vaccine. It selected one strain of Influenza B and two strains of Influenza A in 2014. However, the A virus that has since come to dominate the season mutated, leaving the vaccine less effective….

Read the rest of this editorial at the Victoria Times Colonist…. 

New apps help virus information go viral

12. January 2013 · 1 comment · Categories: 14 Column Inches, Science Scribe, Victoria Times Colonist · Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

This week, the Weather Network’s Flu Report shows significant numbers of influenza cases in the Lower Mainland. Google Flu Trends provides less detail — it rates all of B.C. as having high flu activity.

Google Flu Trends tallies Google searches for information about influenza-like illness to estimate real-time flu activity around the world. When compared to results from traditional flu-surveillance systems, Google’s estimates match on-the-ground illness patterns. But unlike traditional reports, Google updates Flu Trends daily.

The launch of Flu Trends in 2008 launched an even greater trend in health research. Google may have led the way, but new methods for tracking health indicators and mining the Internet for health-related social information seem to come online each year.

Continue reading…

 

Additional sources include:

Sickweather

Piggydemic

Health Tracking Network

 

 

Flu vaccinations make a good investment

05. January 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: 14 Column Inches, Science Scribe, Victoria Times Colonist · Tags: , , , ,

An elderly woman was found dead and three people sick with flu-like illness were taken off a Vancouver-Toronto train in Parry Sound, Ont., on Dec. 29. This incident demonstrates how serious infections like influenza can be.

Before the holidays, we heard flu season started early this year. And with people travelling for the holidays, officials warned the virus might spread as people met over turkey and under mistletoe.

Read more….