Key Points
- Australia's 'flu season' typically lasts from May to October.
- Almost 8.7 million people have been vaccinated against influenza across the country.
- Children are understood to be among the 134 influenza-associated deaths recorded this year.
Australians were urged to get vaccinated against the flu early this year and now winter is more than half way through, some people may be pondering whether there is still value in getting the jab.
Vaccines specifically designed to target this seasons flu strains have been available since April.
With about a third of Australians having had their flu shot this year, there are many pondering whether or not to book an appointment for theirs.
Flu season in Australia
From about May through to October is typically considered to be Australia's 'flu season.'
Due to higher than usual flu cases in the first couple of months of 2023, Australians had been told getting the jab sooner rather than later was in their best interests.
The vaccine is recommended for all Australians over six months of age and is made available to those considered most vulnerable for free.
Flu shots are given at GP clinics and pharmacies and the cost of the shot is generally about $25.
State governments have continued to urge people to get vaccinated throughout winter.
The Western Australian state government made flu vaccinations free for anyone aged over six months throughout May and June and going into the recent school holidays, NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant urged parents to get their children vaccinated over the mid-year break.
Dr Yuben Moodley, a professor in medicine at the University of Western Australia, said there was no doubt it was still worth getting vaccinated against the flu during winter.
“Unequivocally, you get a flu shot and within a few days, your immune immune system is strengthened and then get exposed to the virus, you may still get symptoms but certainly it is not going to be as serious as if you were unvaccinated,” he said.
Moodley said it was difficult to predict whether Australia had seen the worst of the flu season yet or if cases would spike further later into winter, which was more reason to get vaccinated.
About 150,000 Australians are recorded to have had the flu in recent months. Source: Getty / Rafael Ben-Ari
How many Australians have already had a flu shot?
Data from the Australian Immunisation Register shows almost 8.7 million people have been vaccinated between March and July.
This is about 1.8 million people less than the corresponding period last year.
While 62 per cent of Australians over 65 years of age have had their flu shot this year, a much smaller portion of children have been vaccinated against the flu.
People over 65 and those under five years are among those able to get a free flu shot nationally.
Less than a quarter of those aged six months to five years had received this year’s flu shot and just 14.3 per cent of those in the five to 15 year age bracket.
About a fifth of those aged 15-50 years have had the vaccination and about 35 per cent of those between 50 and 65 years.
How bad has Australia's flu season been so far in 2023?
At least 134 influenza associated deaths have occurred across Australia so far this year.
The federal Health Department reports on flu cases fortnightly with data from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System.
Seasonal surveillance started in April, and since then more than 1500 people have been hospitalised with influenza and 104 of them admitted directly to ICU.
More than 100 Australians have been treated in ICU with influenza this flu season. Source: Getty / Justin Paget
The report notes there is “currently not enough information to comprehensively assess the potential severity of the 2023 influenza season at this time.”
Moodley agreed but noted that having almost 150,000 cases at this stage of winter was "quite high and it's about probably near the second highest for the last five years."
He said the recorded number of deaths associated with the flu were also slightly high but most concerning to him were reports that a number of them had been children.
Among them are understood to have been an 11-year-old Queensland girl, a teenager from NSW and a three-year-old from WA.
"In previous years, you did have deaths amongst the elderly and those that are vulnerable but this year, we have the occasional younger person dying with influenza," Moodley said.
Why are parents being urged to get their children vaccinated against the flu?
He said people often had the misperception that flu vaccinations were for adults or they are of little use for children.
"We should be vaccinating children as best we can," Moodley said.
He said while younger people can often have a much stronger immune system than others, this sometimes works against them when their body fights off a serious virus.
"Young people have a much stronger immune system, so when they see the virus, they may actually have an immune response that is very strong," Moodley said.
"The pendulum bends towards a point where the inflammatory response involves the lungs, and it becomes inflamed more than if your immune response was limited, and that causes the morbidity and mortality in isolated cases."
He said this is why during epidemics such as the Spanish flu, younger people have been among those who have died.
