November 7, 2007 - Today, the Health Unit provided local media and community stakeholders with a copy of the 2007 Report to the Community "Immunization. Health for Life!" The Report will be distributed to every household in the City and District on Thursday, November 8th.

“Immunization. Health for Life!” highlights the vital role immunization plays in saving lives, preventing sickness, and in keeping communities disease-free. It also describes how vaccines work, explains which immunizations are required or recommended throughout life, and answers common questions people have about immunization.

“People of the District can be proud because we have a very high immunization rate,” said Dr. Nancy Cameron, Medical Officer of Health. “Ninety-seven per cent (97%) of children in the District in school are immunized. This is a significant contribution to the health of the people of our District. “

Despite high immunization rates, serious childhood diseases like the mumps, rubella, meningococcal C and whooping cough are reemerging in areas of Canada and the United States. This is partially because required immunizations are not always kept up to date, creating a weakness in the barrier built up by herd immunity. This allows some diseases to get through to infect the unprotected.

“We don’t see cases of vaccine-preventable diseases every day but they are still around and they can be  dangerous,” Cameron added. “We hope the Report to the Community serves to remind the public that we can’t be complacent about immunization. It is a tool that only works to prevent disease when it’s used correctly.”

The Health Unit has scheduled the distribution of the Report to the Community to coincide with the flu immunization season. The flu shot is an immunization recommended each year to anyone over six months of age. A whole section of the Report is dedicated to flu immunization and the flu clinic schedule is presented on the back cover as a convenient reference for those who have yet to be immunized.