Flu season arrives in Ottawa with 5 confirmed cases so far

Flu season has arrived in Ottawa with five confirmed cases in the city so far, and Ottawa Public Health says there will be more as the virus spreads.

The number of people immunized at Ottawa's 19 community clinics, which have wrapped up, is down from last year: about 8,700 people compared to about 11,100 people in 2013.

But the city is on track to vaccinate 57 per cent of adults, the same as last season, according to Marie-Claude Turcotte, program manager of vaccine and preventable disease at Ottawa Public Health.

To do it, the city has distributed nearly 370,000 doses of flu vaccine to physicians offices, more than 170 pharmacies, hospitals and long-term care facilities.

In Ottawa last season, more than 100 people were hospitalized with lab-diagnosed cases of the flu and 15 people died from it, with the most deaths among seniors.

Earl Brown, a virologist at the University of Ottawa, says the H3N2 flu strain in this year's shot may have mutated since the vaccine was manufactured, meaning the vaccine might not be as effective.

"It would be a case of the vaccine not preventing as much infection as you want it to, and so you end up with more disease," Brown says.

But Turcotte says it's still better to get a flu shot.

"The vaccine is a way for your body to build the immunity, so there are three strains of the virus in the vaccine. So definitely we still recommend everybody to get the flu vaccine," Turcotte says.

The city is still offering flu clinics for children under five and their families by appointment.