Three Territorians dead after getting the flu

THREE people have already died in a horror start to the 2019 NT flu season — prompting fresh calls from the NT Health Department for vulnerable Territorians to get vaccinated

Territorians are being urged to get vaccinated. (PIC: ISTOCK)

THREE people have already died in a horror start to the 2019 NT flu season — prompting fresh calls from the NT Health Department for vulnerable Territorians to get vaccinated.

A NT Health spokeswoman was not able to confirm where exactly the deaths took place.

She did, however, refute rumours that the deaths were in a Darwin nursing home.

“None of the reported deaths were from aged-care facilities,” she said.

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The spokeswoman urged at-risk populations to get a free flu jab in Territory clinics — including kids aged six months to five years; all Aboriginal people over six months; those aged 65 years or older and pregnant women during any stage of their pregnancies.

“If more people are vaccinated, less disease will circulate and the number of hospitalisations and deaths from influenza infection will decrease,” she said.

“The influenza vaccine is a safe and effective vaccine. It does not contain any live virus, so people cannot catch influenza from having the vaccine.

“It does take about two weeks after vaccination, however, for the body to develop its protection against influenza.”

Territorians not eligible for the funded vaccine can buy it from their GP or pharmacy.

Last year’s flu season killed six people and hospitalised hundreds. According to the Centre for Disease Control’s quarterly disease control bulletin the 2018 flu season started late but was “intense” across the Top End.

CDC head of disease surveillance Dr Peter Markey said in 2017, there were two separate flu seasons — one over the Wet and one in August.