Almost 200 Queenslanders die from flu-related complications in 2019

Almost 200 Queenslanders have died from flu-related complications in 2019 amid one of the worst influenza seasons the state has ever seen.

ALMOST 200 Queenslanders have died from flu-related complications this year amid one of the worst influenza seasons the state has ever seen.

The data shows nine of the 191 people who have lost their lives were aged under 50, including one who had not yet had their 20th birthday.

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Over 80 per cent of the influenza-associated deaths have been in people aged in their 70s or over.

With three months of the year left, the Queensland 2019 flu toll is already more than 300 per cent higher than the 43 deaths recorded for the whole of 2018.

Almost 65,000 cases of flu have been diagnosed in Queensland during 2019 – about 8000 more than the state’s previous record of 56,592 in 2017.

So far this year, 2930 people have been admitted to public hospitals with the flu, including 285 who required intensive care.

That pales in comparison to 2017, when 6070 people across the state required public hospital admission as a result of the flu, including 753 who spent time in an intensive care unit.

Griffith University immunisation expert Professor Paul Van Buynder credits the “record uptake” of the flu vaccination to lower numbers of Queensland hospital admissions this flu season, compared with 2017.

Griffith University immunisation expert Paul Van Buynder attributed the lower numbers of Queensland hospital admissions this flu season, compared with 2017, to a “record uptake” of flu vaccines across Australia.

“About half of the Australian population got the flu vaccine this year,” Professor Van Buynder said. “We’ve been seeing higher vaccination rates over each of the last three years and that’s positive.

“We can still do better in some groups, particularly children, people with chronic disease and pregnant women. I don’t think some parents realise how nasty flu is for young children, how severe it can be.

“Some parents are also suspicious of flu vaccine. There’s so many people who believe that it’s a live vaccine that can give you the flu, when it’s not.

“There’s so much disinformation that we have to try and work on.”

Queensland’s flu death data is extracted from the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages’ Notifiable Conditions System, based on information recorded on death certificates.

Professor Van Buynder believes the figures are a “gross underestimate” of the actual numbers, with older people not always tested for the flu.

“We know that a lot of people, particularly older people, pass away from the flu without anybody recognising it,” he said. “We just don’t count them properly. In old people, a lot of them get an impact on their heart from the flu so they can die of a heart attack.”

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles describes this year’s flu numbers as “truly staggering”.

With the numbers of flu cases dissipating greatly during the warmer weather, Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles described this year’s flu season as “truly staggering”.

“The numbers show flu does not discriminate,” he said. “Every death is one too many. These were Queenslanders with families and loved ones and prevention has to be a priority for all of us.

“I am begging people, please get yourselves and your families vaccinated every year. And if you’re sick, stay at home.”