{"id":212427,"date":"2025-10-14T09:53:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T09:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/212427\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T09:53:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T09:53:11","slug":"was-flu-season-exceeds-30000-cases-as-authorities-blame-low-vaccination-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/212427\/","title":{"rendered":"WA’s flu season exceeds 30,000 cases as authorities blame low vaccination rates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Western Australia has experienced its worst flu season on record, with more than 30,000 influenza cases reported this year.<\/p>\n

That’s almost double the number of flu cases recorded in 2024, when 17,117 cases were reported to health authorities.<\/p>\n

It’s also the longest flu season WA has experienced \u2014 with more cases recorded already this month than any other October since the federal health department began publishing records in 2001.<\/p>\n

The previous record was in 2019 with almost 22,000 influenza cases reported.<\/p>\n

WA is also falling behind the national average for influenza vaccinations.<\/p>\n

WA hits new ambulance ramping high<\/a><\/p>\n

A senior doctor says there is no basis to the WA government’s claims a worse than average flu season is contributing to record high ambulance ramping hours.<\/p>\n

Of people aged over 65, 60.5 per cent were vaccinated nationally against the flu in 2024, while that figure is 59.7 in WA, less than every jurisdiction except for New South Wales and the Northern Territory.<\/p>\n

In the 15-50 age bracket, WA has the second-worst vaccination rate in the country with 18.8 per cent with only Queensland worse (18.3 per cent).<\/p>\n

The national average is 20.8 per cent.<\/p>\n

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioner’s chair, Dr Ramya Raman, said she believed there was a level of complacency following the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

“The fact that we are seeing these conditions, despite having the flu vaccine available within Western Australia, is a concern,” Dr Raman said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dr Ramya Raman says more people getting vaccinated would ease the load on the health system.<\/p>\n

“This is a preventable condition for hospitalisations and severity.”<\/p>\n

Ramping pinned on flu<\/p>\n

The soaring cases of influenza have been blamed for WA’s continuing ambulance ramping woes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Feel like everyone is sick this year? Here\u2019s why<\/a><\/p>\n

It feels like every year we’re told this is one of the worst flu seasons on record. But this time around, doctors really mean it.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month St John revealed ambulances spent a record 7,257 hours ramped outside hospitals in September, an all-time record.<\/p>\n

It’s the third consecutive month ambulance ramping hours have exceeded 7,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n

WA Health Minister Meredith Hammat had blamed the state\u2019s severe flu season and aging population for the alarming trend.<\/p>\n

“It is I think important to remember we’ve gone through one of the worst flu seasons in some time, and those cases have continued through into September,” she said earlier this month.<\/p>\n

“We’ve also seen very high numbers of older Western Australians in our hospital system who are medically cleared for discharge, but are not able to be discharged.”<\/p>\n

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