Major change to kids’ flu jab rollout announced

The rule change hopes to help parents struggling to see a GP and comes as flu cases at the Royal Children’s rose by 500 per cent.

Parents will be allowed to take their children to pharmacists for flu jabs for the first time in an unprecedented move as rising case numbers spark fears of a horror flu season.

It comes as the Royal Children’s Hospital revealed patient flu cases have increased by 500 per cent in less than two months, with a “significant” uptick in the past fortnight leading to about one-in-six tests returning a positive result.

The Hospital’s Chief of Medicine Associate Professor Tom Connell said the hospital had recorded 100 new influenza cases since May 1, compared to 16 for the entire month of April.

“We’re obviously seeing an increasing number of presentations with all manner of respiratory tract viruses,” he said.

“We feel that we’re going to see an upsurge … over the next couple of weeks.

“The flu is circulating now. So it’s important to get vaccinated now because the vaccine takes about two weeks.

“It can be a very nasty illness in a certain percentage of children and nobody wants that for their child.”

Amid fears the flu season will be particularly bad for children, the state government will amend regulations paving the way for pharmacists to administer flu jabs to children five-years and older.

Previously pharmacists could only administer seasonal flu vaccine to adults.

Flu cases are rising among Victorian children.

The Andrews Government expects the move to add an extra 600 flu vaccine providers, who will also be allowed to administer the Japanese encephalitis vaccine to eligible Victorians.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the change was about making it even easier for “busy mums and dads to get their kids vaccinated from the flu”.

“So next time you’re at your pharmacy, roll up your sleeve and get vaccinated against the flu, it not only protects you but also those around you,” he said.

The appointment can also be used to get up to date on the Covid vaccine, with more than 87,000 children aged 5 to 11-yearsold overdue for their second Covid vaccine.

The spike is already impacting childcare centres, with some plagued by staffing shortages leading to requests for some parents to keep their kids at home.

With some centres having half of their staff home sick, Australian Childcare Alliance president Paul Mondo said there was no choice but to restrict the numbers of kids attending.

“Ideally it’s voluntary, for example, parents who can work from home or us grandparent care,” he said.

A spokesman for the Department of Education said childcare providers could apply for a temporary staffing waiver, but Victorian centres had the lowest per cent of waivers in the country.

CASES TRIPLE IN VICTORIA

A crippling flu is racing through Victoria, with cases tripling in the past two weeks across the country.

The Australian Influenza Surveillance Report revealed there were 7173 laboratory-confirmed influenza notifications from April 25 to May 8 this year.

This was three times higher than notifications of cases diagnosed in the previous fortnight.

A Department of Health spokesman said there had been 5727 flu cases reported in Victoria this year with 1019 cases in teens aged between 15 and 19 years old.

The number of notified cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza in the state was more than 32 times higher than the number notified at the same time last year, according to the national database.

The national demographic fuelling the surge are young adults aged 15 to 24 years old and children under the age of 10.

Monash University school of public health and preventive medicine Karin Leder said flu numbers were rapidly rising.

“While there are a number of concerning factors suggesting the potential for a severe flu season this year, it’s not yet possible to predict how bad or how many cases there will be,” she said.

Professor Leder said flu immunity had decreased due to Covid border closures and lockdowns.

“There has been historically low transmission rates of influenza in the last two years because of border closures and lockdowns, with 2021 having the lowest number of flu cases on record,” she said.

“Low exposure to influenza virus combined with lower than usual levels of vaccination last year means that immunity to the flu will be reduced.”

Thanks for the good wishes, folks. Much better today. 🧵 While I’ve got you…please note that COVID will not be the only challenge this winter. Influenza is clearly picking up significantly right now. And RSV, adenoviruses, enteroviruses, rhinoviruses and other coronaviruses…

— Chief Health Officer, Victoria (@VictorianCHO) May 14, 2022

Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton said the flu will be a challenge this winter.

“Influenza is clearly picking up significantly right now. And RSV, adenoviruses, enteroviruses, rhinoviruses and other coronaviruses are all going to be circulating at increasing levels in colder months,” he tweeted on May 15.

“This isn’t to ramp up ‘fear’; it’s to say that “it really ain’t over yet” and everything we do individually and collectively will help healthcare colleagues through ongoing, massive pressures. That’s the least we do for them.”

Infectious disease expert Dr Paul Griffin said this year’s flu season will be different from the deadly 2017 outbreak in Victoria.

“We may not see the same number of cases but it’s going to have an impact,” he said.

The 2017 outbreak saw an increased number of people presenting to hospitals and clinics with flu symptoms.

According to the Department of Health, there were 48,200 laboratory-confirmed flu cases across the state which was nearly five times more than the previous five-year average.

There were 229 reported deaths that mainly impacted elderly patients.

World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza found the outbreak was caused by “unusually poor effectiveness” of the flu vaccine.

It’s understood the vaccine had low effectiveness against the influenza Type A strain, which was the main strain circulating throughout the country at the time.

Professor Leder said Victorians must not let “vaccine fatigue” deter them from receiving the flu jab.

“People with symptoms who have a negative Covid test may think that they are fine to be out and about, but Covid tests do not detect influenza so they may be spreading the flu,” she said.

“Both Covid and flu can both cause significant symptoms and can be associated with severe disease, so it’s important to optimally protect ourselves against both viruses.”

Originally published as Major change to kids’ flu jab rollout announced