It isn’t just people living with chronic diseases that should get the flu vaccine, but also those who are around those people. Because while a healthy person won’t suffer from a severe adverse event, those who they love with chronic lung diseases may not be so lucky.
“The more people in the circle of those people living with chronic lung disease who are vaccinated, the more protection they get, and even if it’s a minor infection in a child or a healthy adult, that can be a pretty major event for older adults living with these conditions,” said Dr. Bowdish. “So, ideally, everyone who cares for someone who’s living with chronic lung disease, which is, by the way, just about everyone since one in five Canadians have chronic lung disease (should get vaccinated).”
Asthma Canada also has a downloadable document that people can use to help manage their appointments, medications, and symptoms. It can also be used to develop an action plan if someone experiences an exacerbation of their disease.
Other ways people can help protect themselves this flu season are to know the risks and practice other prevention measures besides vaccination.
“Things that we did learn during that period (COVID-19) that can be applied to managing flu as well, especially for someone living with asthma, is washing hands frequently can help and of course after coughing, sneezing, and so forth, just paying attention to that and trying to avoid situations where you’re exposed or exposing others if you happen to be sick yourself,” said Beach.