The number of people suffering "Type B" flu is on the rise in Australia, with children among those to suffer the symptoms most severely.
Professor Robert Booy, an infectious disease and vaccine expert from the University of Sydney, told SBS that the spike in cases was unusual.
"This season we’ve had a real surge in [Type] B and it has surged early in the season," he said.
According to government figures, influenza numbers were high around the country, with Type B making up two thirds of all notifications.
Professor Booy said both strains of flu – A and B – made sufferers feel unwell but Type B hit children and the elderly particularly hard.
"Influenza B especially causes muscle aches and pains that in children can be so severe that when they try to walk their calves feel very painful and it actually stops them from walking," he said.
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The standard, trivalent, flu vaccination - which is available free of charge to people in high-risk positions including pregnant women, the elderly and Indigenous - only partially protects against Type B, but there is a new vaccine available this year that protects against two types of A and two types of B.
The quadrivalent vaccine is not available under the government’s free flu vaccine program, and it costs more than the standard vaccine if purchased privately.
Should you get vaccinated?
Professor Booy said it was still worth getting a flu vaccination for those who hadn't been sick already.
"If you get it this week you can have immunity in seven to 10 days," he said.
"There are more people out there who haven’t a flu but are going to get it than have had it already."
He said people suffering Type B were most contagious in the early stages of the virus, even the day before they showed symptoms.
People suffering the flu were advised to:
- Regularly wash hands
- Avoid shaking hands
- Use a tissue to cough into or blow nose and then discard
- If a tissue is unavailable, sneeze into arm
- Work from home to avoid passing on the virus
If people were particularly unwell, a doctor could prescribe anti-viral medication that could reduce symptoms by up to two days. Professor Booy said while this was a helpful method for people with severe symptoms, most people would be able to recover with fluids and bed rest.
Earlier this month, elective surgery was cancelled in South Australia as the state grappled with about three times the numbed or flu cases on the previous year.
State health minister Jack Snelling said hospital staff were also affected, putting greater pressure on hospital resources.
"As well as coping with an increase in demand, sometimes we're having to do that with fewer staff," he said.
In Victoria, the number of cases of meningococcal recorded this year had already surpassed the total number recorded in the state in 2014.
Experts warned people not to be complacent if they showed symptoms of the bacteria, which could sometimes be confused with the flu.
Professor Booy said symptoms to look out for that indicated meningococcal as opposed to the flu included: headaches, cold hands and feet and a pinpoint rash that developed into purple blotches that resembled bruises.
