Flu survey results & winner revealed
Nearly 65% of VCH staff surveyed thought last season’s flu communications campaign was effective or very effective. Most VCH staff appreciated the screensavers, posters, all staff emails and direct info from their managers as the most effective form of communications. More than 800 staff took the survey – so thank you! We’re grateful for your feedback, especially all the creative ideas for this season’s flu campaign.
And congratulations to Keyvan Rahbar, Occupational Health & Safety Advisor, who was randomly drawn as the prize winner.
Plans are already underway for this coming flu season so stay tuned!
Colleen Fograscher
The mask policy is total crap! None of the visitors to our unit wore a mask and I know for a fact that they didn’t have the flu vaccine. Many of our staff who did get the vaccine ended up getting the flu and because they don’t have to wear a mask whose being protected from them!
Paul Johnson
This story does not reflect the fact of the flu vaccine’s 23% efficacy. This necessitates the question….Why are VCH staff being mandated to aquiesce to a flu shot when we stands a better chance of NOT getting the flu if one does nothing but wash their hands?
Christine
As per health Canada, the flu shot was not very effective against this strain of flu. I ened up getting the flu inspite of the vaccine and in experiencing the flu symptoms, i realized that i pretty much get the flu every year eventhough i always get the vaccine.
takins
Analysis at the end of the last flu season found that the vaccine provided no protection against the circulating strain of influenza A/H3N2, which was responsible for most influenza cases last year. This was a very unusual occurrence, because even though a mismatch can occur between the influenza vaccine and one of the circulating influenza viruses approximately once every 7-10 years, the vaccine usually still provides some protection against infection or severe illness caused by that new virus.
It is worth noting that while influenza A/H3N2 was the predominate circulating strain for much of the last influenza season, influenza B was the predominant strain for the last two months of the season, resulting in a number of outbreaks in health care facilities in B.C. The influenza B strain in last season’s vaccine was well matched against this circulating strain. Therefore, it is incorrect to state that last year’s influenza vaccine provided no protection.
Please note: info posted here several weeks ago inadvertently used preliminary information from early in the 2014-2015 influenza season. This info has since been updated, and is reflected in the above.