MEDICOS have declared this year’s flu season a non-event with confirmed cases drastically fewer compared to last year’s brutal tally.
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According to Hunter New England Health figures, there were only 1543 confirmed cases of influenza in the area.
Public health physician Kat Taylor sneezed at 2018’s tally and labeled it a “non-season” in comparison to last year’s “remarkably huge” count which topped 11,610 cases.
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Dr Taylor said it was always difficult to predict how a flu season would pan out but noted NSW Health was more proactive in offering vaccines in vulnerable populations and communities.
She said there was also a lot more attention on prevention this year and the community rose to the call to protect itself with a 50 per cent increase in requests for flu vaccination.
It depends on what flu strain it is, the level of population immunity and what the vaccine contains.
- Public health physician - Kat Taylor
“It depends on what flu strain it is, the level of population immunity and what the vaccine contains,” she said.
While 2017 saw a blow out in flu numbers, 2018 was fairly unusual in a different measure.
The bulk of flu cases tend to arrive towards the end of August, however this year it was almost a “flat-line”, in Dr Taylor’s summation, which she said was unusual.
The flu figures also fell dramatically across the state according to NSW Health data.
To date, there has been 15,022 confirmed cases of flu in NSW, compared to 101,027 cases for the same period in 2017. And the numbers suggest it was the mildest flu season in five years.
NSW Health communicable diseases director Vicky Sheppeard thanked the community for its vigilance to avoid repeating the brutal flu season experienced in 2017.
“Several factors are likely to have contributed to a milder flu season this year, in particular we should acknowledge the efforts of the community who responded early to the call to be vaccinated and in greater numbers,” Dr Sheppeard said.
“There was a 50 per cent increase in requests for flu vaccines across NSW, and the vaccine this year was a better match to the main flu strains, predominantly influenza A(H1N1).”