Melbourne’s south catches summer flu with residents in Casey, Kingston and Greater Dandenong hit hardest
The new year has started with a sniffle with triple the usual number of people diagnosed with the flu in Melbourne’s south.
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Melbourne’s south is in the grip of summer flu with the number of people diagnosed with the virus more than tripling in January.
According to notifiable diseases figures compiled by the Victorian Health Department, 196 people were diagnosed with influenza between January 1 and 20, compared to 58 cases for the same period in 2018 and 74 in 2017.
Casey has been hardest hit with 68 cases reported — the highest in greater Melbourne — and more than five times higher than last year when just 13 people were diagnosed by January 20.
Numbers were also high in Kingston (34) and Greater Dandenong (32).
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There were 27 people diagnosed in Frankston and 20 cases reported on the Mornington Peninsula.
Despite the increase in cases being diagnosed across Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula, Frankston Hospital has not experienced a spike in flu numbers.
The Health Department and AMA Victoria have stopped short of calling this year’s spike in cases an epidemic or even the beginnings of one.
AMA Victoria president Julian Rait said, while concerning, it was likely a “last gasp from last year’s virus”.
“If people were vaccinated early in the season the vaccination may have lost its effectiveness by now. If the virus is still circulating even the immunised may not be immune anymore,” Associate Professor Rait said.
He advised at-risk people — such as pregnant women, the elderly or people with compromised immune systems — to consult their doctor about whether they needed a booster.
Other states were also seeing higher than typical flu rates, Prof Rait said.
Victoria’s Acting Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the rise could also be due to a greater awareness and increased testing for the virus after the 2017 epidemic.
“At this time of year we’ve also got a lot of people returning from international travel, particularly the northern hemisphere, so it’s hard to say whether they are local cases or international ones,” Dr Sutton said.
He reminded people to wash their hands frequently, dispose of used tissues properly and stay at home while sick to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
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