Australia’s 2019 flu season worst on record

Australia’s 2019 “flunami” is officially the nation’s worst flu season on record — and a Queensland record might not be far behind.

IT’S official: The 2019 flu season is Australia’s worst on record.

And although Queensland numbers are still slightly behind the record 2017 year, they’re expected to soar past that in the coming days.

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Across Australia, Federal Government data shows 257,359 laboratory confirmed cases of the flu so far in 2019. That’s compared to the previous record of 251,163 cases in 2017.

In Queensland, 54,784 people have been diagnosed with the flu so far this year. That’s still fewer than the 2017 record of 56,592 cases but Queensland is expected to topple that by next week.

“In terms of sheer numbers and the load on general practice and emergency departments, this is the worst flu season that’s ever been,” said Griffith University immunisation expert Paul Van Buynder.

Griffith University immunisation expert Professor Paul Van Buynder

Laboratory-confirmed cases of the flu have been so high, some experts have labelled this season as a “Flunami”.

But the impact on Queensland public hospitals has not been as severe as in 2017, when 6070 required hospitalisation as a result of the flu.

Queensland Health’s weekly influenza surveillance report released yesterday shows 2470 people have been admitted to public hospitals with flu in 2019, including 240 who required intensive care.

That means about 4.5 per cent of Queensland’s diagnosed flu cases have ended up in public hospitals this year, less than half the 10.8 per cent recorded in 2017.

Professor Van Buynder said preliminary data suggested the enhanced vaccine designed specifically for the elderly — those aged 65 and older, was working particularly well and may be keeping people out of hospital more so than in the past.

“They’re the ones who usually end up needing to be admitted to hospital,” he said.

With at least 95 Queenslanders losing their lives to flu-related causes in 2019, including four people under 50, Prof Van Buynder continued to urge people to get vaccinated if they had not already done so, particularly children and pregnant women.

Flu experts say it’s not too late to get a flu jab, particularly children and pregnant women.

The vaccination message appears to have worked for more than 85,000 Queensland Health staff with 58.5 per cent taking advantage of the department’s free flu jab program this year.

That’s a 15.1 per cent increase compared to 2018.