If you have the flu, you are not alone. New data reveals that rates of the highly contagious virus are skyrocketing across Australia.
Australians have been warned to prepare for winter as new data reveals that flu cases have risen by 15% in the last two weeks.
University of Queensland infectious disease doctor and clinical microbiologist Paul Griffin told NCA NewsWire that what Australia was experiencing with the flu was “truly unique” as cases continued to rise in June.
“It’s not what we’ll normally see, in terms of usual seasonality,” he said. “Obviously, we have seen a very significant increase in cases and given the susceptibility of the population, the impact of these cases has also been greater.
“Normally, we will see the start of the flu season a little lighter and not increased as adequately as what we have seen this year with an increase in hospitalization and serious consequences.”
According to the latest data from the federal Department of Health, there have been more than 55,000 cases of influenza in the last fortnight of reports, with a total of nearly 150,000 cases this year.
While most states also offer free vaccines in June, vaccination is less than the 13.2 million doses in 2019 and the record 18 million administered in 2020.
So far this year, 54 people have died from flu-related deaths.
Over the last fortnight, 989 people have been admitted to hospital for influenza, with 5% of these hospitalizations admitted directly to the ICU.
Experts warn that these figures are likely to be underestimated as many GPs are still reluctant to see patients with respiratory symptoms, which raises questions about flu test rates this year.
“I think if there are barriers to GPs not being able to see people with symptoms, that helps make some of these challenges worse. I think we need to look to address that,” Professor Griffin said.
“We know we can protect our staff with vaccination. We know that while mask mandates are relaxed, we can use masks to protect our staff and do things to address other transmission risk factors like ventilation.”
Parents have been warned to vaccinate their children, with the latest data from the National Immunization Research and Surveillance Center and the Australian Immunization Register revealing that rates are lower among children aged 15 and under.
“One of the biggest differences between Covid and the flu is that children don’t contribute much to the spread of Covid and fortunately have a low rate of serious illness, but that’s very different with the flu.” Said Professor Griffin.
“We are now seeing a fairly high number of cases in these groups, they are responsible for a lot of transmission and they can suffer from very serious flu illnesses.
“It’s disappointing that our vaccination rates in these groups are still low when we have a flu vaccine available to basically everyone from six months of age.”