As our borders reopen, there are grave fears of an infection double-whammy with an influenza outbreak this winter while Omicron circulates.
There had been no community cases of influenza picked up in two years. While New Zealand’s borders had been closed, there had only been 20 cases of influenza – all of which were in managed isolation.
Immunisation Advisory Centre director Dr Nikki Turner said: “We are expecting to see quite a resurgence in viral illnesses and respiratory illnesses in general with the opening up and with us all travelling around more.
“We've not had flu now in the country for two years, so we really do not know how this season is going to go.
"What we can predict is we are going to see flu this year, our borders are open, people are travelling, flu is coming back.”
She added the hiatus in influenza cases meant, “we haven't had boosting to our immunity for two years, so there is potential that when we see flu, we may get more sick”.
Dr Sue Huang, virologist and director of the WHO National Influenza Centre at ESR, said: “Our immunity is low against the flu virus, that could really push our winter season to be the worst flu season.”
Medical professionals are also concerned about the ways influenza could interact with Omicron, which is still circulating in the community.
“If you have to fight [the] Covid virus and the flu virus at the same, it is quite hard," Huang said.
Turner said: "People can be really sick, so the problem we have is we still have quite high rates of Covid in our community and you don't want to get both viruses at the same time.”
Both experts said the flu vaccine is more important than ever this winter.
"If we have a good population immunity through vaccination, that would boost our population immunity,” Huang said.
The flu vaccine is expected to be available from April 1. The eligibility criteria has been extended not just for vulnerable and over 65s, but broadened this winter to include Māori and Pasifika from age 55.
Turner said, “they have a higher risk and tend to get more sick from respiratory illnesses, including flu”.
The hope is, now the community is better educated in hygiene practices such as hand washing and mask-wearing, the influenza outbreak might be able to be controlled.
SHARE ME