Summer flu outbreak prompts debate on two flu shots a year
Experts fear we are on the cusp of another super flu season after a record-breaking 25,000 Australians were hit by the virus in the last four months.
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Experts fear we are on the cusp of another super flu season after a record-breaking 25,000 Australians were hit by the virus in the last four months.
The unusual summer outbreak has raised questions about whether we should shift to providing a second free flu jab each year.
It has also led to urgent calls for pregnant women to get vaccinated now to protect themselves against the high levels of flu currently in circulation.
“Pregnant women are at risk,” said Griffith University flu expert Professor Paul Van Buynder. “You are making a baby and have new red and white cells and a lot of what your body is doing is focused on the foetus and if you get the flu while you are pregnant you are more likely to go to hospital and more likely to die and lose the baby.
“If you vaccinate you protect the mother and you protect the foetus and you give the antibodies to the baby for the first 6 months of their life,” he said.
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Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy on Wednesday announced the release of this year’s flu vaccine, available from April.
This year there is protection against a new A strain (H3N2) and a new strain for the B Victoria linage in the vaccine.
Professor Van Buynder is worried that last year’s mild flu season will mean people won’t bother getting immunised this year.
“We need a message that says do not be complacent go out and get vaccinated,” he said.
Professor Murphy said it is important to get the flu shot annually, as the virus changes each year.
A spokeswoman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said a record 11 million Australians got a flu shot last year — nearly a third more than the previous year.
In 2018, 58,824 cases of influenza were reported, compared with nearly 250,000 cases in 2017.
The protection from the annual flu jab starts to wear off after four months and this year’s free flu jab won’t be distributed until the beginning of April.
The government only funds one free flu vaccination a year for at-risk groups and Professor Van Buynder said while there was not yet enough clinical evidence to back a double vaccination he recommends people with lung conditions get two per year.
“My advice is it’s not going to do damage to anyone and if you’ve got a patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and they get pneumonia from the flu it’s a disaster and a good reason to give a second dose,” he said.
The company that manufacturers one of the two stronger flu vaccines used in the elderly last year has revealed its vaccine won’t be funded this year.
Sanofi Pasteur’s Fluzone High-Dose influenza vaccine for people aged 65 plus had its application for government funding rejected however another type of stronger flu vaccine made by Seqirus will be funded.
Sanofi Pasteur asked for a 400 per cent price increase for their Fluzone High-Dose vaccine this year and the government’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee knocked it back.
“The advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on immunisation is that the Sanofi Vaccine is not yet proven to be any better than the comparable advanced vaccine for the elderly patients on the National Immunisation Program, based on current evidence,” a spokeswoman for the minister said.
Patients can still purchase the vaccine on the private market but it is likely to cost around $50 a dose.
Professor Van Buynder successfully argued for the funding of higher dose vaccines for the elderly after the horror flu outbreak in 2017.
The high-dose vaccines act as a better prompt to the immune systems in older patients which may not be sufficiently stimulated using the traditional vaccine.
At least one brand of stronger vaccine needed to be available on the free immunisation program and Professor Van Buynder said he was satisfied with funding for Seqirus. Both vaccines provided 25 per cent extra protection against severe disease, he said.
The mass vaccination of children against the flu last year was a key factor in the mild outbreak and he is urging the federal government to fund a similar campaign this year.
“One of the big difference last year is that despite the lack of interest of the federal government every single state funded vaccines for children,” he said.
Mr Hunt’s spokeswoman said to date there had been no recommendation from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee to expand the National Immunisation Program to include other age groups.
“However if this does occur the Government will implement this as a matter of priority,” she said.
Those eligible for a free flu shot under the National Immunisation Program include people 65 years and over, pregnant women, those who suffer chronic conditions as well as, for the first time, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People from 6 months of age. Closing this gap means that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adolescents aged 5-14 years of age will now be able to access the flu vaccine at no cost.
Originally published as Summer flu outbreak prompts debate on two flu shots a year
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