‘Things are about to kick off’: NSW flu cases spike

Flu cases in NSW have reached their highest level this year, as NSW Health authorities say that they don’t expect cases to peak until after the winter school holidays.

The latest NSW respiratory surveillance report revealed a 43.1 per cent increase in influenza notifications in the week ending July 4, with more than 3000 cases reported across the state. In the previous week, just over 2160 cases were reported.

Acting NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Jan Fizzell said the report is a “real underestimate” of how respiratory disease is spreading through the community, and that a recent spike in hospital presentations is “like a canary in the coal mine”.

Emergency department presentations for influenza-like illness reached their highest levels since January, with more than 400 weekly presentations.

“That’s usually our signal that things are about to kick off,” Fizzell said. “We’ve had that sharp rise this week, so it’s important we take heed that flu’s on its way.”

The new numbers still fall well short of last year’s bumper flu season, which was the worst on record when adjusted for population.

Despite the uptick’s late arrival, Fizzell said that “there’s still a possibility that we could have another bad year”.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) NSW and ACT chair Dr Rebekah Hoffman said that last year’s extended season, with high case numbers recorded well into November and December, may have acted as an early protection.

She said that it could mean “a certain group of the population had some resistance, some ability to protect themselves a little bit longer this year”.

Hoffman said that cases were expected to rise further in coming weeks as children returned to school after the holidays. During last year’s season, she said, there were instances of “whole classrooms being wiped out by influenza” as children attended school while contagious.

Children aged between five and nine already represented 687 – or more than one in five – of last week’s influenza case notifications. Those numbers under-represent the true extent of the spread, too, as they depict only those people who were ill enough to have a test ordered at their GP.

Fizzell said that children can become seriously ill from the flu and added that “it’s not too late” to get vaccinated.

“We strongly encourage parents to think about getting their family vaccinated,” she said. “Your kids are less likely to get the flu, but if they do get the flu, they’re likely to get well faster and are much less likely to need hospitalisation.”

For the first time in NSW, children aged between two and 17 can access a free nasal spray flu vaccine, with a regular jab also safe and available.

“We’ve had a bit of a grace period this flu season compared to some other years,” Fizzell said. “So we would really love people to take up those vaccines.”

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