Doctors are warning that common winter viruses such as influenza appear to be growing in potency, with some who have caught the bugs being bedridden for weeks.
Cases of whooping cough, the flu and gastro have surged this year, with the spike in illness hitting children hard and adding ‘unprecedented’ pressure on some hospitals.
Influenza infections in 2024 are already 27 per cent higher than the first six months of last year, with more than 170,000 cases and 29 per cent of those in children under nine years old.
Vaccine fatigue and perhaps scepticism and fear about jabs after Covid 19 have been blamed for people skipping the flu shot this year, but GPs are urging people to roll up their sleeve, particularly as some strains of viruses going around this winter appearing to be particularly strong.
Royal College of General Practitioners rural chair Michael Clements said the figures for those affected were likely much higher as many people don’t get tested.
One flu victim, Steph Pase, took to social media to describe her experience after a case of the flu last month stuck around for two weeks and developed into pneumonia.
‘Guys, you do not want influenza A,’ the young mum said.
‘I’ve never been sicker in my life, and I’ve had Covid. I’m someone who can get sick as a dog and refuse to stay in bed. I need to get up, but this thing has just kicked me on my a**,’ she said.
Steph Pase said she was ‘put on her a**’ by a particularly nasty case of Influenza A which sent her to the emergency department
Dr Joel Ten, National Asthma Council Australia spokesperson and Melbourne-based GP, said he’s ‘certainly heard’ some strains of flu this year have been intense.
‘I’ve seen a number of patients who have reported that they’ve had quite severe symptoms, but it does depend from person to person,’ he told Yahoo News.
Ms Pase said she had briefly recovered but then her flu came back with a vengeance.
‘It’s no joke, it’s 20 times worse than Covid,’ she said.
‘If you think you’ve got it go to the doctor.’
She later revealed her flu had turned into pneumonia.
‘My doctor told me to come in as my heart rate had been high for three days.
‘He sent me to hospital and I was in emergency for a few hours. They gave me a drip of antibiotics and fluids plus two lots of antibiotics to take home.’
Sydneysider Natalie Hunt said she has been bedridden for three weeks with a respiratory virus despite resting and eating healthily.
‘This is the longest and nastiest illness I’ve had since I was a kid… green chesty mucus, cough, fatigue, swollen glands, lower back pain and blocked ears.
‘When I had Covid, I had acute symptoms but it only lasted a few days. With this I feel like I’m going to recover but just wake up the same.’
Dr Ten said the virus could seem ‘subjectively’ worse as many the Covid shots ameliorated symptoms but many are not getting vaccinated for the flu.
It is expected cases will climb as the winter virus peak hits warmer areas in August or September.
‘We certainly are concerned that this is going to continue to increase and potentially overwhelm the hospital systems,’ Dr Clements said.
Australia has seen more than 170,000 cases of flu this year which is a nearly 30 per cent rise on last year (pictured: a computer graphic of flu virus)
His comments echo NSW Health Minister Ryan Park, who attributed ‘unprecedented’ demand on emergency departments in his state to a 30 per cent jump in flu cases, combined with fewer GPs working in the community.
Victoria’s health department warns vaccine coverage of influenza remains ‘low’ in all age groups including children, despite a sixfold increase in emergency department presentations due to the flu from April to June.
Dr Clements said there’s likely no single cause of the jump in flu, but it could be due to lower herd immunity, previous COVID-19 infection which has lowered immunity, more international travel and people going to work while unwell.
Cases of whooping cough, have already surged past pre-pandemic levels to more than 12,900 so far in 2024, with total infections in 2023 a quarter of that.
More than 60 per cent of cases have been in children under 14, with NSW health warning of ‘unseasonably high’ infections of whooping cough and pneumonia in school-aged children.
‘These are spikes, we certainly have to acknowledge that they are big increases on the last years,’ Dr Clements said.
Cases of a particular gastro strain have also already tripled the 2023 total, surging to more than 11,700.
Cryptosporidiosis, a type of gastroenteritis caused by a parasite, is spread in swimming pools, and anyone with symptoms is advised to stay out of the water for at least four weeks as they could still be shedding the virus, which can survive chlorine.
