Flu risk: How to protect your kids from Influenza A, B

More Aussie children are being “wiped out” with influenza A and B. Here’s what every parent must know.

Little Lani Armitage was “wiped out” by the flu, not once but twice.

Her mother Carly rushed the nine-year-old to hospital, vomiting and suffering a fever.

“For 10 days straight she was completely wiped out (with influenza A), vomiting, raging temperatures, headaches, she had a cough and a sore throat,” Ms Armitage, from the Gold Coast, said.

“It got so bad at one point I did have to take her to the hospital just because I did not know what else to do.”

Then a few months later, Lani was struck down again with influenza B and gastro.

She is among an alarming number of children hospitalised with the flu annually.

Lani Armitage, 9, with her sister Layla, 10 (left) and mum Carly. Picture: Nigel Hallett

The National Influenza Summary for 2023 found kids accounted for three quarters (72 per cent) of all people hospitalised with the virus – and nine children, aged under 16, died.

Five to 15 year olds have the lowest rate of flu vaccination in the country, with just 16 per cent protected.

A push is now on to boost that figure, as flu vaccinations become available in pharmacies this week for people over the age of five, costing around $20.

A free vaccine for younger children, aged six months to five years, will be available in GP clinics from April.

Adults aged 65 and over, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, pregnant women and people with certain medical conditions can also get a free vaccine from their GP from April.

New research from TerryWhite Chemmart found more than a third (35 per cent) of Australian households battled influenza last year.

The study, of 1000 adults, found households spent up to a collective $1 billion on medical appointments, medications and vitamins to combat the symptoms.

A quarter of people in infected households had to take a full week off work, the survey found.

Dr Ginni Mansberg. Picture: Supplied

Sydney GP and celebrity doctor Ginni Mansberg said the flu placed a significant strain on households.

“In any given season we have seen up to 50 per cent of children under the age of five, particularly those in daycare contract the flu. Flu vaccination is the single best way to protect your child against catching influenza,” Dr Mansberg said.

“When kids get sick with the flu it will spread through the family causing a domino effect with one going down after the other and then two weeks later you still have the flu going through the family.”

TerryWhite Chemmart Chief Pharmacist Brenton Hart said “what people need to remember is that the influenza virus is not just a cold, it’s an incredibly infectious and serious respiratory disease that can be fatal”.

Ms Armitage said she had intended to vaccinate her children against the flu last year but it hit the family early before the jabs became available.

Ms Armitage, 39, said she would try to do so this year “mainly because it takes away that fear, makes it a bit more relaxed”.

“Everyone’s choice to vaccinate is very different and I respect that. But for my own personal family if I could take the edge off the flu, or the severity of the symptoms or better yet completely avoid it, I definitely will,” Ms Armitage, who works in her family’s construction business, said.

Originally published as Flu risk: How to protect your kids from Influenza A, B