The President and CEO of Windsor Regional Hospital is urging people to get the flu shot.
Speaking on AM800's The Lynn Martin Show, David Musyj says you need the flu shot even if you think you have a healthy immune system.
"It's not about you," he says. "It's about the people who surround you, your loved ones, the younger, the older population and I can tell you even the 40-60 year olds that some how they're immune to everything, they're the ones getting really sick as a result of this flu when they're unvaccinated."
As of early December, there have been 14 confirmed cases of the fl, nine of which have been people under the age of 17.
Musyj says it is his personal opinion the flu shot should be mandatory for health care workers unless they have a health reason to be exempted.
But he emphasizes it is his own personal opinion and the rules are clear it cannot be made mandatory.
"I know that comes with a lot of individuals saying it shouldn't be and you can't force people but if you're surrounding yourself with people who are immune deficient and if they every got influenza it could be death for them so I think it's important to get it."
He adds there is one statement that continues to circulate every year. "The mis-information of if I get the flu shot I'll get the flu from the flu shot — that's not factually correct whatsoever and the 'I don't need it' or 'I'm fine, I'll weather it' and again, it's not about you, it's about who you come in contact with."
According to the Windsor Essex County Health Unit, there is an annual average of 12,200 hospitalizations and 3,500 deaths in Canada attributed to the flu.
— With files from AM800's Leah Hanson