Tasmanian influenza cases are at their lowest level since 2010

Restrictions designed to stop the spread of COVID-19 have also slowed transmission of other diseases like influenza. See how Tasmania’s rate of the flu in 2020 compares to other years.

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CORONAVIRUS restrictions, social distancing, a focus on good hygiene and more people being vaccinated are being credited with reducing Tasmanian influenza cases to their lowest level in 10 years.

Federal health statistics show there has been 161 laboratory confirmed cases of the flu to date in Tasmania in 2020, in comparison to last year when there were 3137.

The last time there were fewer laboratory confirmed cases of the flu in the state was in 2010 when 107 cases were reported.

Hobart GP Scott Macrossan said he and his colleagues at Battery Point Medical had not encountered a single case of influenza this year.

“We have a large number of patients come through each day and we haven’t seen one case,’’ he said.

“Ordinarily you would expect to see about 30 or 40 in a flu season.”

Battery Point Medical's Dr Scott Macrossan. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Dr Macrossan said rules designed to stop the spread of COVID-19, like social distancing, meant people were contracting contagious diseases on a far lesser scale.

“People are learning to keep their distance, they are washing their hands and they are using hand sanitisers,’’ he said.

“And they aren’t socialising and going out in groups as much as we would have done last year.”

In contrast, there have been 229 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tasmania, but only two of those have been reported in the past four months.

Most were confirmed in April and May at the height of a virus outbreak in the state’s North-West, where 12 of the state’s 13 coronavirus-related deaths have occurred.

Dr Macrossan said there were lessons to be learned from the coronavirus pandemic about minimising the spread of infectious diseases more broadly.

“By keeping COVID-19 at bay, we’re also keeping all other infectious diseases at bay, which is fantastic,’’ he said.

“It’s of course a worry to think that people weren’t using correct precautions before, but hopefully we’ve all learnt our lesson and take it into the future.”

Dr Macrossan said there was an uptake of about 40 per cent in people coming forward for influenza vaccinations, and the practice had to employ an extra nurse and renovate a nursing area to cope with rising demand.

Pharmacies offering vaccine have also told a similar story, with Terry White Chemmart Rosny Park and Lindisfarne part-owner Helen Blake saying the outlets had done more than double the amount of flu vaccinations than last year.

“We have had a much higher intake of people coming in this year, which I think initially spiked once COVID had hit in March,’’ she said.

“Following that, a lot of workplaces including health care and aged care started making it a requirement you had to have the flu vaccine to continue working.”

INFLUENZA CASES IN TASMANIA

2010 - 107

2011 - 363

2012 - 1093

2013 - 297

2014 - 675

2015 - 1438

2016 - 1055

2017 - 3509

2018 - 452

2019 - 3137

2020 (to date) - 161

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