Australia is bracing for a severe flu season with a surge in confirmed influenza cases. Experts warn of the potential for a harsh winter with increased transmission due to typical seasonal patterns and the virus's survival outside the body. Vaccination rates, particularly among younger age groups, have declined since the pandemic, raising concerns about the effectiveness of herd immunity.
Experts are warning a severe flu season is likely this year as the Northern Hemisphere braces for a surge in infections. According to the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System, there were 1,055 confirmed influenza cases in Australia in the first week of 2025. However, flu cases typically peak in winter when the virus can survive longer outside the body, and people spend more time gathering in enclosed spaces.
Australia has reported almost 888,000 confirmed cases of influenza since 2022, after infections took a dip during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when Australia's international borders were closed. There were just 750 recorded infections in 2021 and 21,343 in 2020, a significant drop from the 313,453 reported in 2019 - the year before the pandemic began. The 2019 figure was the highest annual total since data collection began in 2001, but was eclipsed in 2024 when 364,000 influenza cases were confirmed. Influenza cases, as expected, increased after Australia's international borders reopened. But the infection record in 2024 also came as vaccination rates declined. In 2020, the influenza vaccination coverage rate for those aged over 65 was 61.9 per cent, which has since slipped to 60.5 per cent in 2024. For those aged 50 to 65, the coverage rate dropped by 2.5 percentage points 32.7 per cent over the same period. Vaccination coverage among the largest age group - 15 to 50-year-olds - also fell 3 percentage points to 20.4 per cent over the past four years. And it was 14 per cent for children aged 5 to 15 in 2024, down from 27.4 per cent in 2020. Some health experts are concerned the public may feel burnt out by the annual reminders to get vaccinated, a factor that could be contributing to the decline in immunization rates. Andrew Bartlett, a lecturer in pharmacy practice at the University of Sydney, told SBS News that 'vaccine fatigue' could be a significant contributo
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