Zero confirmed flu cases in Hamilton this year: public health
Coronavirus health measures like masking and social distancing have effectively wiped out community transmission of influenza in Hamilton.
Hamilton public health says it has received zero reports of flu cases or outbreaks this year - the same figure as in 2021 and 2020.
Influenza has virtually disappeared across the province on the heels of strict pandemic measures and aggressive vaccine campaigns.
Data from Public Health Ontario shows just 83 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza have been reported in the 2021-22 flu season, which is tracked from the start of September to the end of August.
In 2018-19, meanwhile, there were 13,156 cases - more than 157 times the current caseload.
As far I'm aware, we haven't had any sustained community transmission of influenza in Hamilton, which is in fact very reassuring because we were concerned we'd have influenza and COVID at the same time," said Dr. Fiona Smaill, a medical microbiologist and infectious diseases physician at Hamilton Health Sciences.
It's really been all the public health measures that have contributed to not seeing influenza transmission. We've had good mask wearing, good social distancing and families have been very careful."
Besides COVID measures, fewer children in school - the demographic Smaill said is most affected by influenza - has also driven transmission down.
Then there's uptake in the flu vaccine, which has remained steady, Smaill added. In October, Ontario invested more than $89 million to purchase around 7.4 million flu vaccine doses. The investment - one of the largest for a flu campaign in recent history - came after a year that saw vaccine uptake reach near record highs across the province.
So all of these COVID measures, together with school closures and a reasonable uptake in the influenza vaccine, have made us able to really prevent transmission of most respiratory viruses," said Smaill.
The absence of influenza cases shouldn't deter people from getting the flu shot, said Dr. Mark Loeb, chair in infectious diseases at McMaster and an internationally recognized expert in community immunity.
Although the incidence of influenza is low in Ontario right now, the flu vaccine is still an important tool to help safeguard against symptoms that may be mistaken for COVID, but in fact could be flu-related," said Loeb. If you have been vaccinated for COVID-19 and influenza, you have good protection against both."
The low transmission of influenza could also affect future flu seasons, according to a report from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The report, released last October, suggests because circulation of the flu has significantly decreased since 2020, a lower level of immunity among the population - particularly infants and young children - could lead to higher infection rates next year.
Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com