Record numbers of Australians have come down with the flu after a federal government delay to the start of this year’s vaccination program.
Health Department figures released on Wednesday show the number of flu cases this year has risen sharply, with 14,124 cases compared with 9258 at the same time last year.
Almost 2000 new cases were diagnosed in the past week.
Australia’s vaccination program was delayed by a month as manufacturers scrambled to update two of the three influenza strains in their vaccines in response to a bad flu season in the northern hemisphere
But one doctor, who did not want to be named, says the government and health authorities “made a mistake” in delaying the program’s start, contributing to this year’s record number of cases.
He says the main supplier, Australian company CSL, had its flu jab ready earlier but it couldn’t be used in children aged under five.
Professor Robert Booy, a director of the Influenza Specialist Group vaccination advocates, says there’s no doubt the delay left many people unprotected from the disease, which leads to the deaths of thousands of Australians each year.
“This year our barrier isn’t as big because we haven’t had the vaccine available for as long as we would have liked to and we haven’t had as many people vaccinated as we would have liked,” he told AAP.
A health department spokeswoman said the decision was made to delay the program until sufficient vaccine supplies were available from at least two drug companies.
The delay also mitigated the risk of CSL’s Fluvax being given to young children.
It did not affect vaccine supply volumes and no shortages had occurred.
In Queensland, where 4000 people have already come down with the flu, doctors say it’s likely an early start to the flu season has bumped up the number of cases.
Prof Booy said it was a very real concern that not enough people were immune this year, particularly for older Australians who are often more susceptible, and doctors were worried about it being a bad season.
But asked whether the vaccination program should have started earlier, he said there was no point crying over spilt milk.
“I can’t change what happened yesterday,” he said.
Right now, it was important to protect at-risk people such as those with chronic medical conditions, the elderly, and pregnant women.
“Get them vaccinated this week or next before we get to the absolute peak of the flu season,” Prof Booy said.
Health Minister Sussan Ley also has urged people to get vaccinated