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Flu is on the rise with the cooling weather, leaving hospitals struggling to cope with a surge in patients.
The influenza strain behind the 2009 "swine flu" pandemic that killed 19 people in New Zealand - A(H1N1) - appears to be back with a vengeance, accounting for most of the flu cases reported this year.
Dr Lance Jennings, of the National Influenza Specialist Group, said dozens of people had ended up in intensive care after contracting the H1N1 strain this year, including several in Wellington and Hawke's Bay.
One Canterbury patient had died. "It is really coming back to haunt us."
The strain was most likely to hit children, young adults and the healthy, he said.
The number of flu cases had risen strongly as winter set in, with 95 unconfirmed cases reported in the last week of June.
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The influenza strain behind the 2009 "swine flu" pandemic that killed 19 people in New Zealand - A(H1N1) - appears to be back with a vengeance, accounting for most of the flu cases reported this year.
Dr Lance Jennings, of the National Influenza Specialist Group, said dozens of people had ended up in intensive care after contracting the H1N1 strain this year, including several in Wellington and Hawke's Bay.
One Canterbury patient had died. "It is really coming back to haunt us."
The strain was most likely to hit children, young adults and the healthy, he said.
The number of flu cases had risen strongly as winter set in, with 95 unconfirmed cases reported in the last week of June.
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