The province's public health officials are warning this flu season could be more dangerous than in past years.
They expect any one of two strains to hit this winter — H1N1, which was at the centre of the global pandemic back in 2009, and the more virulent H3N2 strain.
Dr. Renée Paré, with the province's public health office, says this year's version of the flu vaccine will contain protection against both strains — though H3N2, she says, is more likely to cause hospitalizations and deaths than others.
"We expect the H3N2 strain to be the predominant strain this year," Dr. Paré says. "The H3N2 is the more virulent strain...and can affect those who are very old or sick."
Once again, public health officials are urging people get their flu shots — even though the shots generally have a 40 to 60 per cent protection rate at the start of any given year, and that its effectiveness won't be determined until well into the flu season.
But CJAD 800's medical expert Dr. Mitch Shulman says even with those odds, getting some protection from the flu shot is better than getting none at all.
"Even if the bug was to tremendously mutate, there's still a benefit of providing you with some degree of protection because you don't know what's going to be circulating along with it." he says. "So the vaccine is never useless."
The government provides the shot free of charge to those 60 years of age and over, babies from six months to two years old, those with chronic conditions, such as asthma, and pregnant women with chronic conditions, or those who are in their second or third trimester.
About 1,000 Quebecers require hospitalization every year because of the flu. About 100 of them die from the flu.