A warning from down under – don’t forget your flu shot

By DARYL CHENG

The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne

With flu season underway in the United States, you may have heard predictions that this year could be particularly bad, for a multitude of reasons, one being that Southern Hemisphere countries suffered a particularly severe season.

I’m here to tell you that this is definitely not something to ignore!

While it is understandable that people – wherever you may live – America, Australia and almost anywhere else in the world are tired of hearing about vaccines, respiratory disease and pandemics, it’s no time to let our guard down.

As we emerge from a long and tough winter here in Melbourne, I’ve seen first-hand the results of that fatigue – across the entire community.

As a pediatrician, I saw the disease burden hit my patients particularly hard. Respiratory diseases that we’ve not seen for two years since pre-pandemic came raging back with force.

COVID, yes. But also, RSV – which is respiratory syncytial virus – and particularly the flu overwhelmed our health care system, workers, patients and families.

For perspective, consider this – in the entire 2021 we saw approximately 600 cases of flu reported – with no reported deaths. Fast forward to now – more than 220,000 cases have been reported already this year and we’ve lost more than 300 individuals to the flu.

Those numbers are phenomenally alarming – but perhaps lost in the milieu of COVID cases and pandemic related statistics. For countries like the U.S and others who have enjoyed the last throes of a balmy summer must take note of what lies ahead.

The likely cause of this surge of respiratory disease isn’t really surprising. There has been an almost complete reversal in mitigation strategies employed in the last two years – think masks, physical distancing and an emphasis on vaccination for protection. These all conveniently kept respiratory diseases including the flu at bay – but once removed no longer offer that extra layer of protection.

We’re also seeing another result of community quarantining and isolating. Our youngest – my patients – have not been exposed to many of these respiratory viruses that even without an available vaccine would help build both their own but also population level natural immunity. There is also low flu vaccine coverage across the community. So, when the little ones come into contact with flu, they are getting hit hard with more severe symptoms.

And when kids are sick, there’s also a trickle-down impact. Hospitals can become overrun.  Kids and their siblings miss school. Daycare isn’t an option, so mom and dad miss work. Frail and elderly grandparents can easily catch the flu from the young ones too.

All of this has resulted in an unusual increase in hospital admissions in children from flu this year. Kids aged 5 to 15 years old made up almost half of all patients hospitalized from flu. Many of them had issues related to feeding, hydration or complications such as a secondary bacterial infection.

So what can we do? We’ve simply got to get our arms around these viruses and one of our best defenses is vaccination. Whilst the vaccine is not perfect, it may be the barrier that stops hospitalization and severe disease. Though tired, we must as a global community come back to the basics and utilize the tools we have.

By prioritizing vaccine protection for these potentially deadly, yet preventable respiratory diseases, we give all of us the best fighting chance.

Dr. Daryl Cheng is a pediatrician at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.

By DARYL CHENG

The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne

With flu season underway in the United States, you may have heard predictions that this year could be particularly bad, for a multitude of reasons, one being that Southern Hemisphere countries suffered a particularly severe season.

I’m here to tell you that this is definitely not something to ignore!

While it is understandable that people – wherever you may live – America, Australia and almost anywhere else in the world are tired of hearing about vaccines, respiratory disease and pandemics, it’s no time to let our guard down.

As we emerge from a long and tough winter here in Melbourne, I’ve seen first-hand the results of that fatigue – across the entire community.

As a pediatrician, I saw the disease burden hit my patients particularly hard. Respiratory diseases that we’ve not seen for two years since pre-pandemic came raging back with force.

COVID, yes. But also, RSV – which is respiratory syncytial virus – and particularly the flu overwhelmed our health care system, workers, patients and families.

For perspective, consider this – in the entire 2021 we saw approximately 600 cases of flu reported – with no reported deaths. Fast forward to now – more than 220,000 cases have been reported already this year and we’ve lost more than 300 individuals to the flu.

Those numbers are phenomenally alarming – but perhaps lost in the milieu of COVID cases and pandemic related statistics. For countries like the U.S and others who have enjoyed the last throes of a balmy summer must take note of what lies ahead.

The likely cause of this surge of respiratory disease isn’t really surprising. There has been an almost complete reversal in mitigation strategies employed in the last two years – think masks, physical distancing and an emphasis on vaccination for protection. These all conveniently kept respiratory diseases including the flu at bay – but once removed no longer offer that extra layer of protection.

We’re also seeing another result of community quarantining and isolating. Our youngest – my patients – have not been exposed to many of these respiratory viruses that even without an available vaccine would help build both their own but also population level natural immunity. There is also low flu vaccine coverage across the community. So, when the little ones come into contact with flu, they are getting hit hard with more severe symptoms.

And when kids are sick, there’s also a trickle-down impact. Hospitals can become overrun.  Kids and their siblings miss school. Daycare isn’t an option, so mom and dad miss work. Frail and elderly grandparents can easily catch the flu from the young ones too.

All of this has resulted in an unusual increase in hospital admissions in children from flu this year. Kids aged 5 to 15 years old made up almost half of all patients hospitalized from flu. Many of them had issues related to feeding, hydration or complications such as a secondary bacterial infection.

So what can we do? We’ve simply got to get our arms around these viruses and one of our best defenses is vaccination. Whilst the vaccine is not perfect, it may be the barrier that stops hospitalization and severe disease. Though tired, we must as a global community come back to the basics and utilize the tools we have.

By prioritizing vaccine protection for these potentially deadly, yet preventable respiratory diseases, we give all of us the best fighting chance.

Dr. Daryl Cheng is a pediatrician at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.

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