Hunter New England Health is warning people that the worst of flu season is still to come.
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Our concern is with people with symptoms including fever, hacking cough – don’t take it into high-risk settings [like] hospitals, schools, aged care facilities... Do the right thing.
- Dr David Durrheim
This winter Hunter New England Health (HNEH) recorded 157 confirmed cases of influenza across the Lower Hunter.
HNEH’s flu-tracking data indicated that about three per cent of the population had a “flu-like illness”.
By comparison, 177 cases were recorded in 2014 and, there were 147 cases in 2015.
HNEH public health physician Dr David Durrheim said this year’s flu season had been about average, but he predicted a spike in cases that would peak next month.
“It builds from now,” he said.
“We see peak numbers in September… [because] now is when most of the transmitting is being done.”
Dr Durrheim attributed the late-Winter increase to people working indoors, in close proximity during the final weeks of cold weather.
In other words, cool conditions and multiple warm bodies, all within sneezing distance, provided influenza with ideal conditions to thrive and spread.
He urged anybody experiencing flu-like symptoms to stay home and take special precautions to avoid groups of people with vulnerable immune systems.
“Our concern is with people with symptoms including fever, hacking cough – don’t take it into high-risk settings [like] hospitals, schools, aged care facilities,” he said.
“Stay home, stay hydrated, seek symptom relief for fever.
“Do the right thing.”
The dominant strains of influenza in 2016, according to HNEH data, were the pandemic strain H1N1 and H3N2.
Dr Durrheim said the influenza vaccinated population recorded a lower rate of infection, though it was too late in the season to be vaccinated at this stage.
