Australia is not even halfway through 2019 and the number of confirmed flu cases is threatening to reach the total number of incidents in 2018.
On Tuesday, authorities announced that, so far, 26 people have died from the disease in Victoria. The state’s Health minister, Jenny Mikakos said that the flu is brought by people who travel to the Northern hemisphere and come back carrying the disease.
"We are seeing a lot of communicable diseases spread through overseas travel, that's certainly been the case in terms of measles cases and flu cases," Ms Mikakos told to the media.
"We have seen a very significant summer flu season this year as a result of people coming back from the northern hemisphere with the flu and that spreading in the community."
South Australia has recorded an unprecedented start to the 2019 flu season Source: SBS
Influenza cases on the rise in all of Australia
Victoria is not the only state that suffers from increased incidents of flu cases. So far, 27 people have died in South Australia, while the number of cases is ten times higher compared to the same period last year.
According to National Diseases Surveillance Scheme, a government system that tracks the number of cases of various diseases in all the states and territories, in 2018, the total number of influenza incidents was almost 59,000. This year, the cases of influenza have already reached almost 48,000 in just five months.
Since the beginning of 2019, the states with the highest number of confirmed cases of flu are South Australia with 14,337 incidents, NSW with 13,347 and Queensland with 11,052.
Victoria so far has 4,627 cases, Western Australia 2,840 and Tasmania 858.
Northern Territory and ACT are the two territories with the smallest amount of cases, 721 and 357 respectively.
If your are considering to get a flu shot, please consult your GP to make sure it is safe for you.
Share
