Influenza cases still rising with four outbreaks in nursing homes
The fierce early flu season in Sydney shows no signs of abating with influenza cases still on the rise in March, the month in which they usually drop off.
NSW
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The fierce early flu season in Sydney shows no signs of abating with influenza cases still on the rise in March, the month in which they usually drop off.
The “unusual” trend has stumped health authorities who are unsure of what it means for when the real flu season kicks off around June.
New figures from NSW Health reveal there were 2,481 influenza cases in the four weeks to March 31, which is more than double the 972 cases recorded when compared to the same time last year.
It’s also slightly higher on the 2,244 cases recorded in February.
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NSW Health Communicable Diseases branch director Dr Vicky Sheppeard said influenza cases typically drop off in March with less travellers returning from the northern hemisphere compared to the summer months.
“It’s certainly more than we see usually at this time of the year but it’s not increasing and we don’t have any basis to predict what the real flu season is going to be like,” she said.
“We’ve got both A strains of the virus circulating and depending on which one predominates that will probably determine how severe the flu season is.”
The latest NSW Health Influenza Surveillance Report showed there were eight influenza outbreaks in March with half of them at nursing homes.
While fewer than the 13 outbreaks in February, researchers noted it was “still more than expected for this time of year”.
The worst hot spots for outbreaks were in Western Sydney — where 119 cases were recorded in a week — along with Northern Sydney and Murrumbidgee, in NSW’s Riverina region.
But while influenza cases increased in March, the overall rate of swabs that tested positive for the virus was 9.3 per cent, virtually on par with the previous month (9.4 per cent).
There have been 27 outbreaks in the year to-date in NSW, including 17 in nursing homes. Seven people have died as a result.
Dr Sheppeard urged people to book their flu jab with their GPs, adding most clinics should have received their Commonwealth vaccines by next month.
“There have already been 7,584 recorded flu cases in NSW during the warmer months so the best protection ahead of winter is to be vaccinated to build up resistance,” she said.
Free flu vaccines are available through GPs for all children aged from six months to under five years of age.
Pregnant women, Aboriginal people, residents over 65 and those with heart conditions, asthma and diabetes can also get the jab at no cost.