CURRENT levels of influenza activity are comparable to the peak of last year's flu season, according to Alfred Health Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology and Director of the Infection Prevention and Healthcare Epidemiology unit, Professor Allen Cheng.
"It could get worse from here and be a big season, or it could just be an early season and everything fizzles out," Professor Cheng told MJA Insight.
"We really don't know what's going to happen," he said.
Data from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System reveals 2019 has already seen 33,205 confirmed cases of influenza: 6,798 cases in Jan, 7,088 in Feb, 10,747 in Mar, and 8,572 in Apr.
Most cases have been caused by influenza A strains - both H1N1 and H3N2.
The flu season in 2018 was considered mild, with only 58,000 recorded cases versus more than 250,000 cases in 2017.
Cheng noted that influenza was the biggest cause of deaths from a vaccine-preventable disease among children.
"We talk about meningococcal vaccine and pertussis being killers --- and they are scary diseases --- but more people get severe flu," he warned.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 30 Apr 19
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 30 Apr 19
