‘Laid-back’ Aussies told to take precautions against potentially deadly flu

Almost 18,000 people in NSW have tested positive for the flu so far this year — almost double for the same period in 2023 — and ‘laid-back’ Aussies have been told not to be complacent.

We’ve been hit with an early wave of the flu, infecting thousands of people from every age group well before the season of winter sickness traditionally begins.

Flu season in Australia typically runs from May to September but, according to the latest data, 17,900 people across NSW have tested positive for influenza A and B between January and April this year.

At the same time last year, just over 10,000 people had been struck down with flu.

The nasty bug isn’t just something the elderly have to worry about either, with children and people in their 30s recording the highest number of confirmed cases across the state so far this year.

More than 2100 people in their 30s have had the flu so far in 2024, and more than 5800 children under 14 have also tested positive for either influenza A or B.

Alexandra Aguirre will make sure her children Cleo, 4, and Sammy, 2, receive their flu shot. She has them on order at their local medical centre. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Jayden Cummins knows all too well how dangerous the flu can be, after he was told by doctors he had 48 hours to live after catching it in 2017.

“My body was totally shutting down because the flu had attacked my heart,” he said.

 

“It had led to cardiomyopathy and my heart was shutting down at such a speed that doctors told me I had 48 hours to live.

“I was just in shock. My 13-year-old son was in the room and I just could not fathom what I was being told.”

He woke up three weeks later in St Vincent’s Hospital with an artificial heart and, more than 430 days later, underwent a heart transplant.

With more than 480 people admitted to NSW hospitals for the flu between January and April, Mr Cummins said he was worried people weren’t taking the illness seriously, which is a trap he too had fallen into before his terrifying ordeal.

“I don’t know if it’s just an Australian thing, because we’re so laid-back about it, but I always hear ‘it’s all right, it’s just the flu’,” he said.

“I did the same. I thought: ‘Oh it’s just a bit of the flu’, I was fit, healthy, so it wasn’t something I ever took seriously.

“But now, it is really scary and I worry all the time about catching a flu.”

Jayden Cummins, pictures with his son Henry, had a heart transplant after a serious flu left him with cardiomyopathy. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Knowing how serious a flu or respiratory illness can be, northern beaches mum Alexandra Aguirre has booked her two little ones in for the flu jab, to try to minimise their risk of infection this year. Ms Aguirre, who is in marketing with the online health platform Mosh, said her kids had been sick with fevers and coughs in the past – and didn’t want a repeat this winter.

“My kids are at daycare, so are constantly exposed to germs and I want to give them the best protection possible,” she said.

“Last year, my daughter’s friend was hospitalised for several months with strep throat, which really opened my eyes up to how easily seemingly minor colds can escalate.”

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park has urged everyone across the state to get a flu vaccine, including children, who are eligible for the jab from six months.

“We can all take some very simple but effective steps to protect ourselves as well as our communities,” he said.

“Stay at home if you’ve got cold or flu symptoms, and if you must go out, mask up.

“Speak to your local pharmacist or GP to book yourself in for a flu shot.”

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