LODDON Mallee Public Health is calling on more Gannawarra Shire residents to book in for flu shots as doctors report a surge in cases.
The Gannawarra Shire Council holds monthly morning immunisation sessions in Kerang and Cohuna, with free flu vaccines for residents aged six months to five years old, or older than 65 or those who have a medical condition.
Loddon Mallee Public Health Unit public health physician Dr Naveen Tenneti said almost half of our region’s influenza cases are found in children.
“In the Loddon Mallee, close to half of all cases occur in children aged under 15,” he said. “And approximately 10 per cent of cases are in those aged over 65.
“After two years of quite low influenza numbers, in the context of the COVID-19 restrictions, we are seeing a real surge in the numbers of influenza cases.
“Unfortunately, at the same time we are seeing vaccination rates that are quite low, especially this year.
“These numbers are only based on those who have been tested and so they likely represent an under-estimate of the true burden.
“The public health unit is aware of and has been actively supporting outbreaks of influenza and other respiratory infections in residential aged care, disability care, and educational settings.”
Dr Tenneti said that receiving an influenza vaccination each year was “critically important”.
“The important thing with the influenza vaccination is that the strains that are circulating are constantly changing,” he said.
“The people who are working on manufacturing the vaccine complete a fair bit of work each year to look into what strains have been circulating and ensure that protection against those particular strains is included.
“If you’ve been vaccinated last year, firstly that protection will have waned by the time you get to the next season, but they may also not be protecting you from the prevailing strains that are going around.
“While some people will still get infected despite being vaccinated, they will be at reduced risk of severe disease or hospitalisation.”
Dr Tenneti said there were a number of factors at play that may be responsible for the drop in vaccination rates.
“Over the last two years, COVID vaccination has been a real priority, and there was a really strong uptake across the state,” he said.
“I think there is that aspect of people feeling a little bit of fatigue, when it comes to vaccines.
“Those numbers have certainly dropped off but unfortunately what isn’t dropping off is case numbers and presentations to hospital.
“When we are talking about smaller shires like Gannawarra, the absolute case numbers may not appear that high but as a proportion of the population, they are high.
“It’s about trying to find a way to keep the visibility about cases so people can have an understanding about what is really going on with the cases.
“I don’t want to make it sound like vaccine uptake is always lower in regional areas. What we actually saw with COVID-19 vaccination was a real flip from that normal narrative.
“Vaccination rates were actually higher in rural and regional areas which I think was a real testament to the work that the health system and everyone did in the region.”
As of July 17, the Loddon Mallee region has seen 778 notified cases of influenza, which is down from 1285 cases from the same time last year.
