A devastating killer influenza outbreak is heading to Australia where it will claim lives, doctors have warned.
The deadly H3N2 “super flu” wrought havoc in the US in December and January, killing 20 children and causing vaccine shortages across the country.
The virus is expected to arrive in Australia within weeks and Australian Medical Association President Dr Steve Hambleton says we should not underestimate its ferocity.
“It’s absolutely true (that it is a killer flu), and some of the people reading this might be the victims, I’m sorry to say. It will kill people,” he told theDaily Telegraph.
Dr Hambleton says the only way to protect against the flu is to get vaccinated. He says everyone over the age of six months should be vaccinated, particularly pregnant women and the elderly.
“You need to get vaccinated because getting the vaccine is the very best way of protecting yourself,” he said.
“Children are super-spreaders of the flu. An adult might spread the flu for a week, little kids will spread the flu for three weeks and schoolchildren will spread the flu for two weeks. We’d absolutely recommend children be vaccinated.”
Influenza kills an average of 85 Australians each year, with a further 3000 elderly people dying from complications or secondary infections.
