Specialists say immunisation is the only way to guard against getting sick.
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Each year, the manufacturers of the flu vaccine study what strains are popping up in other parts of the world before the season arrives in the U.S.
But some experts are calling for the federal government to consider coughing up for a four-strain flu vaccine to ensure future flu seasons aren’t so severe.
It is not known whether the 4-year-old Auckland boy was vaccinated, but the vaccine protects against the two strains of flu prevalent in New Zealand. The other victim was a 77-year-old woman.
“The best prevention against contracting and spreading the influenza virus is by receiving the seasonal vaccination”, she said.
She said authorities would observe the prevalence of the Brisbane B strain in the northern hemisphere’s flu season before determining if it’s included in next year’s local trivalent vaccine.
“Case numbers may continue to grow”.
“While Queensland does have among the highest number of notified flu cases in Australia, this is not unusual”.
He conceded it was rare for B-strain infections to outweigh their A-strain counterparts, but said this year’s experience just reinforced the need for a four-strain vaccine.
“This is six times more influenza B notifications than at the same time previous year and has led to around 30 per cent of influenza notifications being reported for children younger than 10”.
The centre’s director, Sue Huang, said both deaths were in Auckland, but data for the rest of the country would not be available for up to three years.
“It is hard to predict when the flu season will be over but figures suggest we are nearing or have reached the peak”, she said.
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“Flu is no longer watching the calendar”.
