280 cases of influenza A reported in Townsville in a week

Townsville is still battling influenza A, with more than 280 cases reported last week. This comes as a two-year-old boy dies in CQ.

TOWNSVILLE is still battling influenza A, with more than 280 cases reported last week.

It comes as a two-year-old boy died in Gladstone Hospital with the flu on Thursday.

In the week to June 5, 19 people were admitted to Townsville University Hospital, with 25 admitted in the week before.

Health Minister in Town

There have been 1406 confirmed cases reported in Townsville this year, with 94 of them under four years old, 131 were between five and nine, 185 were between 10 and 14, and 190 were between 15 and 19.

There has been a sharp increase in cases across the board, with just a handful of cases reported in the first few weeks of April.

Queensland Health data shows that there have been 16,503 influenza notifications in the 2022 year to date. The previous five-year average was 6041.8.

Townsville Hospital and Health Service Public Health Director Dr Steven Donohue said the lack of natural boosting by influenza in the past two years meant immunity levels were low.

“This makes our community more vulnerable to severe influenza disease,” Dr Donohue said.

“Influenza vaccination offers the best protection against this illness.”

In May the state government announced free flu vaccines from chemists and GPs in Queensland.

Speaking in Townsville, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said there had been a significant uptake in vaccines.

“We were actually seeing a decline in uptake of the flu vaccination as we were heading into the flu season,” Ms D’Ath said.

“We were significantly lower than what we were as far as vaccination uptake from last year.

“I can now say that I’ve been advised that we are at double the vaccination rates that we were last year.”

Ms D’Ath said this uptake showed two things – that cost was a barrier to families and that people were becoming aware of how serious influenza A was.

Dr Donohue said influenza was a serious illness.

“It is not the same as a common cold and can lead to life- threatening complications, particularly in the very young, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with complex chronic diseases like heart disease or diabetes,” he said.

“It’s important to remember, vaccinating children under five years of age also helps to limit the spread of influenza to the vulnerable members of our communities.”

Dr Donohue said the flu vaccine could be given together with the Covid-19 vaccine, which he said was still important.

Originally published as 280 cases of influenza A reported in Townsville in a week