tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Flu season has hit the Hunter hard this year with the number of confirmed cases rivalling only that of a 2009 pandemic.
Hunter New England Local Health Network is reporting an early influx of influenza cases since peak season began in June.
Public health physician David Durrheim said that for the 2011 season to date, Hunter New England had recorded 145 confirmed cases of influenza. This compared with eight for the same period last year.
The only time numbers have hit such levels in the past five years were during the 2009 swine flu pandemic, in which 366 cases were confirmed in the region. For the same period during 2008 there were 21 cases and in 2007 there were 18.
??There?s a fair amount around. We?ve certainly seen that it?s widespread,?? Dr Durrheim said.
He said it coincided with a decrease in numbers of children being vaccinated.
Data from community-based online health surveillance system FluTracking showed about 9per cent of children aged under 10 had been vaccinated against influenza.
This was a decrease on last year, when about 20per cent in this age group were vaccinated.
Dr Durrheim said it followed fever in children vaccinated from a product used last year. No reactions had been reported from other products now in use, he said.
Health officials encouraged vaccination in children, especially those with chronic diseases such as asthma, and those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent.
This also applied to adults in high risk groups such as pregnant women, the elderly, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and people with respiratory, cardiac or endocrine conditions.
http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/record-number-in-hunter-with-flu/2227208.aspx
Hunter New England Local Health Network is reporting an early influx of influenza cases since peak season began in June.
Public health physician David Durrheim said that for the 2011 season to date, Hunter New England had recorded 145 confirmed cases of influenza. This compared with eight for the same period last year.
The only time numbers have hit such levels in the past five years were during the 2009 swine flu pandemic, in which 366 cases were confirmed in the region. For the same period during 2008 there were 21 cases and in 2007 there were 18.
??There?s a fair amount around. We?ve certainly seen that it?s widespread,?? Dr Durrheim said.
He said it coincided with a decrease in numbers of children being vaccinated.
Data from community-based online health surveillance system FluTracking showed about 9per cent of children aged under 10 had been vaccinated against influenza.
This was a decrease on last year, when about 20per cent in this age group were vaccinated.
Dr Durrheim said it followed fever in children vaccinated from a product used last year. No reactions had been reported from other products now in use, he said.
Health officials encouraged vaccination in children, especially those with chronic diseases such as asthma, and those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent.
This also applied to adults in high risk groups such as pregnant women, the elderly, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and people with respiratory, cardiac or endocrine conditions.
http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/record-number-in-hunter-with-flu/2227208.aspx