Public health authority NSW Health has issued a warning over spikes in whooping cough and pneumonia, with children and teens catching both highly contagious infections at “unseasonably high” levels. Concerningly, the latest outbreak of pneumonia has led to “unseasonably high numbers of presentations to emergency departments” across the state, especiallyContinue Reading
NSW is headed for a “more severe flu season than usual” with the state recording a 25 per cent week-on-week surge in cases. The latest NSW Health Respiratory Surveillance Report detailed a 22 per cent jump in people presenting to hospital emergency departments with flu-like illnesses. NSW Chief Health OfficerContinue Reading
Cases of whooping cough are surging almost 500 per cent in parts of Australia. The national regulator flagged shortages of medicine to treat the disease a year ago. The shortfall is likely to extend to at least the end of June, but alternative antibiotics are available. Waning vaccination rates haveContinue Reading
An emergency “Code Yellow” has been declared in one state’s public hospital system as a new Covid and flu wave smashes health staffing numbers and generates a surge in new patient presentations. South Australia Health chief executive Robyn Lawrence triggered the emergency on Thursday and at a press conference onContinue Reading
A “triple threat” of surging flu, Covid and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) detections across NSW has prompted health authorities to call on people over the age 65 to get their free influenza vaccine. The NSW Health Respiratory Surveillance Report released on Thursday revealed a 27 per cent increase in influenzaContinue Reading
A new family of Covid subvariants sweeping through the US and UK has been detected in Australia, with Aussies warned to expect a surge in cases in the coming weeks. The FLiRT subvariants, which are made up of several sub variants including KP. 1 and KP. 2, has quickly becomeContinue Reading
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer has confirmed the state is currently experiencing a severe jump in flu cases. Chief Health Officer Clare Looker said the state was currently dealing with a cocktail of elevated influenza, Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases as winter approaches. “We’ve seen a significant jump inContinue Reading