Connect August 2021 | Adelaide PHN in Action
Immunisation update A message from our Immunisation Hub Coordinator Flu in 2022 …. why are we worried? Professor Robert Booy, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Sydney, recently said “For a century we had a significant outbreak of flu every winter around the world, but now for two years we have had very low transmission thanks to all the wonderful efforts of social distancing and border closures.” With borders about to open and travelers returning, we can expect the return of flu in our communities, and we can expect to see it at the start of summer. It is unlikely to hide until our ‘normal’ flu season which traditionally is during July, August, and September. Due to low flu cases over the past two years, children under two years of age have not been exposed to circulating influenza and are therefore at particular risk for infection that could lead to hospitalisation, and with certainty, will lead to higher infection within the community because they transmit the virus very efficiently to their contacts. What child under two years of age has good cough and sneeze etiquette? Flu vaccines are free for some people: • Children six months to less than five years of age • People six months and over with specified medical risk conditions • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people six months and over • People 65 years and over • Pregnant women Despite access to free influenza vaccines, Professor Ian Barr, Deputy Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, said only around 25% of children aged six months to five years had been vaccinated against influenza this year – well down on previous years. Experts are hoping that people with respiratory symptoms will be tested for influenza as well as COVID-19 wherever possible, and people who are traveling should receive a flu vaccine prior to travel.
