Influenza represents a major public health burden, extracting tremendous economic costs both via direct medical costs and through the indirect costs of lost productivity.1The burden of this infectious disease can be reduced either by protecting susceptible individuals or decreasing the severity of illness in infected individuals. In Canada, it appears that decision-makers are favouring the former approach, with the Ontario government having recently decided to implement a public programme of mass influenza vaccination. Meanwhile, a report from the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA) has concluded that providing the new 'flu treatment zanamivir to all Canadians would not be a cost-effective strategy for the healthcare system in that country.2