Extra funding to help in Vic flu battle

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt is in talks with the nation's chief health officer about the effectiveness of a universal vaccination system after a horror flu season.

Victoria's public health system will get an extra $115 million to cope with the horror flu season that killed 116 people in aged care.

Victoria's public health system will get an extra $115 million to cope with the horror flu season that killed 116 people in aged care. Source: AAP

In Victoria, 121 people have died in the state's aged care system, prompting the state government to pour an extra 115-million dollars into the health system.

The illness has also claimed an eight-year-old girl and a Bacchus Marsh father, while 33-year-old new mum Sarah Hawthorn is in a coma after being struck down while heavily pregnant.

In total, there's been more than 14-thousand notifications of influenza this year in Victoria - more than double last year's figures.

Royal Melbourne Hospital respiratory medicine director Lou Irving says a cohort of unvaccinated people, including young children, have been spreading the illness and Australia should consider a universal vaccination program.


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