Flu bug arrives in Nova Scotia
Posted Jan 6, 2011 01:49:28 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Nova Scotia’s top doctor says this year’s flu bug is just starting to hit Nova Scotia. Doctor Robert Strang says the strain of the virus, H3N2, is normal but the effects of the virus are severe. “In general the H3 strains tend to produce more severe illness than an H1N1 strain,” he says. H1N1 is, of course, the much-feared swine flu strain that caused world-wide panic after a global pandemic was declared last flu season. Strang says the H3 virus cropped up in Nova Scotia over the holidays, including in his own home. He tells News 95.7 he spent a few days tending to family members felled by the flu. The good doctor qualifies it though, saying lots of people were sick over the holidays, but only a handful actually had the real deal. “Flu or influenza is classically a fairly sudden onset of headache, fever, aches and pains all over your body, everything hurts and you’re feeling really tired,” he says. He says that is an obvious lesson about protecting yourself with the flu vaccine. It is not too late to do so and have the shot be effective against warding off the illness. The shots are available at family physicians and clinics.
