Flu off to a bad start in Oz

Flu cases hit uncharted territory in NSW, but vaccines at the ready

Australia on track for severe flu season

Quote:

Southern hemisphere case numbers are rising sharply, doctors warn. Joseph Milton reports.... With 40,000 confirmed influenza cases in Australia this early in the season, experts this week warned that deaths in the country could hit 4000 unless infection rates slow before the winter peak, and urged the public to get a flu vaccination The number of confirmed cases is triple the typical levels seen at this part of the flu season. In 2018 there were 58,000 recorded cases for the entire year. Robert Booy, who heads a collective of health organisations called the Immunisation Coalition, says that this flu season has been “really strange”. 2019 may be shaping up to be a particularly bad year for Australia because immunity levels are low following a mild season in 2018, Booy suggests. He adds that the presence of two types of flu this year, rather than the usual one, is also likely to be a contributing factor. "There has been a sustained and rising summer and autumn surge that began at the end of last year and is continuing to increase,” he warns.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2EaydYK