The college and university resistance
November 30, 2009
Ontario has launched a $650,000 ad campaign to encourage post-secondary students to roll up their sleeves for the H1N1 flu shot.
Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Arlene King, is encouraging students aged 17 to 24 to "Join the Resistance" against the flu.
King says almost half of those hospitalized in Ontario for swine flu are people under 20. However, historically only about 25 per cent of people aged 17-24 get a seasonal flu shot compared to about 50 per cent of the general population. Yet, she says, college and university students are at a greater risk of transmitting the infection because they live and study in such close proximity to each other.
King says the Ontario government sent an "email blast" this week to 53 student associations targeting 400,000 students, sent posters aimed at students to health units and is posting advertising on websites to drive students to clinics.
Canadian Press
Toronto Star
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