HEALTHY HABITS – Health experts say flu awareness is vital.

Don’t skip the

fl u jab

Flu cases may be virtually non-existent thanks to COVID-19, but health experts warn against complacency and say an infl uenza pandemic is always a future possibility. WORDS: Leigh Robshaw.

With COVID in the spotlight over the past 18 months, it seems the usual public health baddie at this time of year – the flu – has gone MIA. Flu rates are at an historic low, and while many of us are keen to get the COVID jab, the prevailing attitude towards the flu vaccine is a bit ‘meh’. But while flu numbers are down, now is not the time to forget about the flu vaccine, public health experts say.

Professor John Lowe, from the University of the Sunshine Coast, says that kind of complacency “is just what will start the brushfire”.

Prof Lowe says we’re going to have to get used to a new way of life – handwashing, social distancing, a yearly flu jab and possibly an annual COVID vaccination – for the foreseeable future.

“Skipping the flu vaccine this year is not recommended because, as we’ve seen with COVID, outbreaks can occur immediately and what you’re doing is taking a chance that you’re going to be in a flu-free or COVID-free environment,” he says.

“As we’ve seen so many times, all it takes is one person to come into that environment and everything can change.

“From a public health perspective, it wouldn’t be recommended that you not get the flu vaccine or COVID vaccine, or quit washing your hands and social distancing.”

Still, the reduced flu rates are good news. The Australian Influenza Surveillance Report is published fortnightly during the influenza season, typically between May and October. Up to the week ending June 6 this year, only 326 flu notifications had been reported to the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS) across Australia, with no associated deaths.

No hospital admissions due to influenza have been reported across the major reporting hospitals since surveillance started in April this year. Contrast that with the corresponding period two years ago. In the fortnight between June 17 and June 30, 2019, a total of 22,047 notifications of influenza were reported to the NNDSS. Of those, 3528 were in Queensland alone.

The Australian Department of Health’s 2019 Influenza Season summary showed a total of 310,011 laboratory-confirmed flu notifications to the beginning of December.

On a more serious note, by October 6 that year, more than 800 influenzaassociated deaths had been officially recorded for 2019, with 782 of those deaths due to influenza A. Those victims ranged in age from under 12 months to 102 years.

Dr Penny Hutchinson, a Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service public health physician, says Australia continues to have significantly lower numbers of confirmed influenza cases locally, statewide and nationally compared with the same time in previous years.

“Actions to prevent COVID – such as social distancing, increase in hand and

“I think we can expect that neither the flu or COVID are going to go away”

Professor John Lowe, USC

respiratory hygiene, isolating when unwell and … the closure of borders to international travel and quarantining of international travellers – [have been] effective in preventing influenza,” she says.

While Dr Hutchinson says it’s difficult to determine how many people have had the flu jab this year. But from information available, flu vaccination rates for 2021 to date are lower than previous years.

FluTracking shows only 45 per cent of Australians aged between 18 and 64 had received the flu vaccine by May 20, while at the same point last year, 71.8 per cent of people in that age bracket had been vaccinated. Experts believe possible reasons for this are complacency due to the lower flu rates and a greater sense of urgency to have the COVID vaccine.

“Given there is a time interval between the administration of COVID-19 and the influenza vaccine, this may impact on when people have their influenza vaccine,” Dr Hutchinson says.

She tells My Weekly Preview that the low take-up of the flu vaccine “could be due to the lower rates of influenza or a delay in people having their influenza vaccine due to the need to have the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible”.

With most people now habitually handwashing, socially distancing and staying home when sick, could this change the face of the flu as we know it?

“Globally, influenza numbers are low and this reflects the reduction in international travel and the quarantining of international travellers,” Dr Hutchinson says. “But once international borders re-open, it is likely influenza cases will increase. Given this may not be for another 12 months, influenza numbers may remain low for the foreseeable future.

“Influenza is a zoonotic disease [derived from animals] and will eventually return. There is also the possibility that we will have another influenza pandemic.”

Dr Penny Hutchinson

WHO SHOULD GET THE FLU SHOT THIS YEAR?

Dr Penny Hutchinson says the influenza vaccine is recommended for everyone, and highly recommended for some at-risk groups.

“These include children six months to under five years, adults aged 65 and older, pregnant women at any stage of pregnancy, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people who have certain underlying medical conditions.”

The influenza vaccine is free for these groups. Dr Hutchinson says people who have experienced anaphylaxis to previous influenza vaccination or any of its components should not have the influenza vaccine. There are also precautions for people who have developed Guillain-Barré syndrome in the six weeks following influenza vaccination.

If you’ve ever felt unwell or believed you’d “caught the flu” after a flu vaccine, you can’t blame it on the vaccine.

“As the influenza vaccine is not a live vaccine, it cannot give you influenza,” Dr Hutchinson says. “There are a couple of reasons that people may have influenzalike symptoms following vaccination.

“Between one and 10 per cent of people will develop influenza-like symptoms of fever, malaise and myalgia in the days following influenza vaccination due to the body’s immune response to the vaccine.

Key numbers

45 per cent of Australians aged between 18 and 64 had received the flu vaccine by May 20, 2021 – this compares with 71.8 per cent the previous year. As of June 6, 2021 only 326 cases of influenza had been reported to the NNDSS. In the fortnight between June 17 and June 30, 2019, there were 22,047 notifications of influenza reported – 3528 of those were in Queensland.

“Influenza vaccine takes up to two weeks to become fully effective. However, the incubation period of influenza is only a couple of days, so there is the possibility of being infected with influenza before the vaccine has had time to work. This is one of the reasons that people should have their influenza vaccine as soon as it becomes available.”

While the federal government initially recommended people wait at least 14 days between getting the flu vaccine and their COVID-19 vaccination, Dr Hutchinson says this advice has now changed.

“The preferred interval between having influenza vaccine and COVID-19 vaccine is now seven days, although the interval can be less in certain circumstances. It is important that people check with their doctor.”

But what about the extra burden placed on the body to deal with a number of vaccines in a short space of time? Professor John Lowe says it doesn’t tax the body unnecessarily.

“Every day, we’re fighting off quite a few bad germs,” he says. “These vaccines are no worse than what your body is fighting off every day.

“You can feel very lethargic after your second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, but it only lasts 24 hours as the body recalculates. And the next day, almost everybody reports being back to normal.

“One day of being lethargic compared to having COVID is a very small investment for a very large outcome.

“It’s like the next day after running a marathon – you just need a bit of time to recover and you’re ready to go again. As with any kind of preventative action, the payoff is great. It is a little bit of effort to go in, but as most people will say, the facilities around the Sunshine Coast are just amazing. You can get in and out very efficiently for both the COVID and flu vaccines, so it’s not a huge time commitment.”

At a glance

• Vaccination against influenza (flu) remains important this year.

Behaviours such as increased handwashing and social distancing helped to stop the spread of flu viruses in the community last year. Relaxed social-distancing restrictions this year may allow flu viruses to recirculate, even if they were hardly seen in 2020. • Vaccination experts recommend flu vaccination for all people aged six months and over. • Under the National

Immunisation Program, free flu vaccines are provided to a number of high-risk groups.

Ask your doctor if you qualify. • Vaccination experts recommend waiting seven days between getting a flu vaccine and a

COVID-19 vaccine. • It doesn’t matter in what order you get the vaccines. • When you book in for your flu vaccination, remember to tell your vaccination provider or clinic if you have received the COVID-19 vaccine (and when you received it). This will help them to plan your appointment. • The World Health Organisation reports that, in a typical year, up to 650,000 people die from influenza globally. • Flu vaccination is very effective — preventing illness in up to six out of 10 people who are younger than 65. This figure varies year by year.

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HIGH TEA BY THE SEA IS ON AGAIN

In its sixth year, the annual High Tea by the Sea fundraising event is on again this September. To date, the event has raised more than $372,000, which has been directly donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation for the work they do raising awareness and funds for cancer research. The event is being held at Sunshine Coast Turf Club on Sunday, September 19 with plans to run the track pink for the day. This year’s raffle will be a new Mini. Raffle tickets are on sale from July 1 via the 4 Ingredients Facebook page. Tickets to the high tea event are available at moshtix.com.au – search High Tea by the Sea.

CHARITIES GO HI-TECH

Volunteering Sunshine Coast is on a mission to grow and support its member not-for-profits through increasing volunteer support from 3000 to 10,000 volunteer placements annually. The charity is thinking outside the square and reimagining their fundraising strategies, taking advantage of the blockchain revolution through creating their own digital art. Partnering with Australian cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve, the first piece of art is titled 2021 Blockchain #VolArt Tribute Collection. “I am very confident that crypto art on the Blockchain through what is referred to as non-fungible-tokens (NFT) will be the future of fundraising for charities like Volunteering Sunshine Coast,” Volunteering Sunshine Coast CEO Mathew Walker says. Visit opensea.io

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Students in our region will benefit from free after-school homework centres. Burnside State High School, Coolum State High School, Cooran State School, Eudlo State School, Peregian Springs State School and Yandina State School will be among 120 Queensland state schools to host the centres from next term. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says, “Homework is a very important part of every child’s education, but it can be a challenge for busy families at the end of the day. Our new free homework centres will provide a supportive, supervised environment for students to complete their homework before they go home.”

CRIME READERS TAKE NOTE

Sunshine Coast Council Libraries invites devoted crime readers to enjoy an evening with acclaimed Tasmanian author Kyle Perry at the Maroochy RSL from 6pm on Wednesday, July 21. Mr Perry will talk about his latest fiction release The Deep, an atmospheric story set in the rugged landscape of Tasmania, drawing on his years as a drug and alcohol counsellor to present a novel full of raw and gritty characters. This literary event is part of a Sunshine Coast Libraries author events series, and the first live author event since COVID-19. Tickets: library.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au

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$14K RAISED FOR DV SAFE PHONE

A bumper crowd of more than 7100 attended this year’s Hot 91 Ladies Oaks Day on May 28, with a percentage of gate takings being donated to the charity DV Safe Phone. The charity recently received a $14,353 cheque from Sunshine Coast Turf Club and Hot 91.1. “We are proud to have been able to make this donation to DV Safe Phone, a local charity with a huge heart that is helping victims of domestic violence within our community,” Sunshine Coast Turf Club’s John Miller says. Charity founder Ashton Wood says a mobile phone is something many take for granted, but it can be a lifesaver for a victim of domestic violence. “Often the mobile phone is the first thing to be destroyed, hacked or taken in a domestic violence situation, which means a victim has no way of making that emergency call,” Mr Wood says. “Together, the Sunshine Coast Turf Club and Hot 91.1, have in one day raised the single largest community fundraising contribution to DV Safe Phone to-date. I can’t thank them enough for their generous support.” Visit dvsafephone.org

TWO LOCAL PROJECTS AWARDED

Two Sunshine Coast projects have been named among the Queensland Landscape Architecture Awards winners. Queensland’s finest spaces were on display last month as the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) revealed the winners of the 2021 awards. Kawana Waters State College Prep Play Space by Greenedge Design took home the Landscape Architecture Award for Play Spaces, while Caloundra Main Street Urban Revitalisation by Sunshine Coast Council won Landscape Architecture Award for Urban Design and Regional Achievement Award. AILA Queensland Landscape Architecture Awards jury chair Lauren Newton says the jury applauded Queensland’s landscape architects for their commitment to generating opportunities and connections across the state.

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Three University of the Sunshine Coast student research projects spanning creative writing, biotechnology and molecular biology have each gained a $4500 boost from the combined Rotary clubs of the Sunshine Coast. More than 100 Rotarians from across the region gathered at USC recently to present their annual Rotary Postgraduate Scholarships to Shannon Horsfall of Bellara, Thomas Banks of Golden Beach and Tomas Lang of Sippy Downs. The scholarships will help progress studies that look set to benefit the aquaculture industry and assist young people in reporting domestic abuse.

PENGUIN PARTY

Two little blue penguins have celebrated their birthdays at SEA LIFE Sunshine Coast Aquarium. Pebbles and Dennis, who turned five and four respectively last month, were treated to brightly coloured birthday cakes made of jelly and pilchards. SEA LIFE staff treat little blue SEA LIFE Sunshine Coast is penguins Pebbles and Dennis to also excited to announce birthday treats the name of the cownose ray pup who was born at the Aquarium earlier this year is ‘Raya’. The name was submitted by Michelle Higginbotham from the Sunshine Coast.

Queensland is the place to be

Our strong health response to COVID-19 means our Economic Recovery Plan is in full swing.

• Creating jobs in growth industries like tourism and agriculture • Investing in advanced manufacturing • Developing the resources of the future like hydrogen • Attracting more business to Queensland

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QUEENSLAND’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN

Protecting our health Creating jobs Working together

covid19.qld.gov.au