Record flu season costing business $30 million a day

AUSTRALIA’S worst flu season on record has forced an additional 100,000 workers off sick, costing businesses $30 million per day.

AUSTRALIA’S worst flu season on record has forced an additional 100,000 workers off sick, costing businesses $30 million per day.

Absence management firm Direct Health Solutions says it has seen a massive spike in sick leave absenteeism, almost entirely due to the impact of cold and flu.

“Call volumes to our nurse triage contact centre have jumped 30 per cent in the past two months from workers reporting cold and flu symptoms,” said DHS managing director Paul Dundon. “Our data shows that across Australia, an extra 100,000 workers are off on sick leave compared to normal.”

DHS says 30 per cent of all absenteeism during the past two months has been from cold and flu symptoms, compared with the average of 16 per cent. On average, 3 per cent of workers will be off sick, according to the DHS Absence Management Survey. That figure is currently 4 per cent.

“Organisations across the board are experiencing unprecedented sick leave, impacting operations, and having significant financial impacts on the economy,” Mr Dundon said.

“Leading experts impress on workers the need for regular hand washing, for 15 to 20 seconds every two to three hours to minimise the risk of spreading infection.”

Earlier this month, experts called for everyone who hasn’t already got a flu shot to get it done to stop the spread, with the total number of cases so far exceeding 70,000. Queensland and NSW are both facing record flu seasons.

“It looks like we will again get the greatest number of notified cases in Australia we’ve ever seen,” Professor Paul Van Buynder from Gold Coast Health and the Immunisation Coalition told AAP.

“I’m confident that this is not just the biggest recorded year in our data but it’s also the largest flu outbreak that we’ve seen for quite some time.”

The record-breaking figures have been blamed on high rates of flu among schoolchildren. “These are the superspreaders in the schools, to their grandparents and to others ... and they’re keeping the flu spreading within the community itself,” said Prof Van Buynder.

“These children clearly not just spread the virus within the community but they do suffer significant consequences themselves particularly under the age of five.

“I am disappointed that an argument that it would be difficult to deliver [the flu shot to the national children’s immunisation] program is preventing us from protecting children. Parents believe that it’s not important because it’s not funded, but this is very important and it should be funded.”

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Originally published as Record flu season costing business $30 million a day