{"id":119061,"date":"2015-09-01T16:56:50","date_gmt":"2015-09-01T06:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=119061"},"modified":"2020-06-30T10:15:42","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T00:15:42","slug":"flu-epidemic-no-threat-in-sb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2015\/09\/01\/flu-epidemic-no-threat-in-sb\/","title":{"rendered":"Flu Epidemic No Threat In SB"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Brisbane's Communicable Disease Incident Management Team has received more than 9000 flu reports in the last three weeks
(Photo: Qld Health)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 1, 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

A disease strain that was removed from the annual Australian influenza vaccine three years ago is contributing to Queensland’s worst flu outbreak on record.<\/p>\n

Queensland Health said today they received 18,600 influenza notifications between January 1 and August 30, but 48 per cent of these had occurred in the last three weeks.<\/p>\n

About 70 per cent are for Influenza B, which is split into two strains, “Phuket” and “Brisbane”.<\/p>\n

The Brisbane strain is seen as a secondary disease that usually only affects about 5 per cent of flu sufferers.<\/p>\n

However, Queensland Health says this year it appears to be 25 per cent higher.<\/p>\n

The 2015 Southern Hemisphere vaccine, set by the World Health Organisation in February and funded by the federal government, covers the Influenza A “Switzerland” and “California” strains and “Phuket” B Strain.<\/p>\n

The Brisbane B strain was included in Australian flu vaccinations between 2010 and 2012 but was removed when it appeared to have died down.<\/p>\n

Queensland’s peak flu season is usually between May and October.<\/p>\n

“It is difficult to predict when the flu season will be over but figures suggest we are nearing or have reached the peak,” Queensland Health’s Dr Sonya Bennett said today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr Bennett, the executive director of the department’s communicable diseases unit, said the resurgence of the Brisbane B strain had contributed to the spike in flu rates.<\/p>\n

“Back in February there was no indication that the B Brisbane strain would be as significant as it is this year,” she said.<\/p>\n

Dr Bennett said authorities would observe the prevalence of the Brisbane B strain in the northern hemisphere’s flu season before determining if it should be included in next year’s local vaccine.<\/p>\n

It would be up to Commonwealth health bodies to determine if a four-strain vaccine could be widely distributed to the population, she added.<\/p>\n

South Burnett doctors southburnett.com.au<\/strong> spoke to today said there appeared to have been a slight increase in flu cases in the region over the last month, but it was not extraordinary.<\/p>\n

“We always get a bit of an upswing in ‘flu around the Ekka,” one doctor said.<\/p>\n

“That’s usually because locals go down to Brisbane and bring it back with them.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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