{"id":424530,"date":"2026-05-12T21:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T21:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/424530\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T21:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T21:52:08","slug":"super-k-flu-strain-highly-infectious-virus-to-dominate-winter-sick-season-as-experts-await-onset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/424530\/","title":{"rendered":"Super-K flu strain: Highly-infectious virus to dominate winter sick season as experts await onset"},"content":{"rendered":"
University of Auckland Immunisation Advisory Centre principal medical adviser Dr Nikki Turner. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are expecting it to be an important player in the flu season this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs yet, we have pretty low rates of flu but we are watching closely for the onset of the season which could come any time.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Zealand was better positioned than Northern Hemisphere countries were last year, with a closer match between circulating strains and this year\u2019s flu vaccine, Turner said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically, everyone watch out \u2013 the difference this year is we\u2019re not just worried about flu coming earlier, it\u2019s that we have a mix of viruses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Health NZ public health medicine specialist Dr Richard Vipond said people should get their yearly flu vaccine ahead of the peak season, usually between June and September.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll 2026 flu vaccines in New Zealand contain Southern Hemisphere updates to the super-K-flu as well as coverage for other anticipated influenza strains for this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Around 500 people die from influenza every year in New Zealand, according to Health NZ. Photo \/ 123rf<\/p>\n
Around 500 people in New Zealand die from influenza each year in New Zealand, with vulnerable groups, including older adults, pregnant women, and those with underlying conditions, most at risk.<\/p>\n
Health NZ advises people with symptoms, who live in crowded households, to isolate where possible in a well-ventilated space.<\/p>\n
Turner said simple public health measures could also help limit the spread.<\/p>\n
People should wear masks on public transport or in busy indoor spaces, especially if they were at higher risk, and to stay home if experiencing symptoms such as coughs or runny noses, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s not forget what we learned through Covid, we can reduce the spread of these viruses. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor those that can, stay at home when you\u2019re sick, wear masks, use sanitiser.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"University of Auckland Immunisation Advisory Centre principal medical adviser Dr Nikki Turner. Photo \/ Supplied \u201cWe are expecting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[806,113435,150126,8607,33400,2837,5346,1601,5658,217734,1379,49530,134,217733,13640,13347,807,40484,111,139,69,82859,9617,26953,6926,27916,35836,196399,1961,61,3055,8431,23644,102],"class_list":["post-424530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-as","tag-await","tag-basic","tag-covid","tag-dominate","tag-during","tag-expected","tag-expert","tag-experts","tag-fastspreading","tag-flu","tag-forget","tag-health","tag-highlyinfectious","tag-important","tag-influenza","tag-kiwis","tag-learned","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-onset","tag-player","tag-precautions","tag-season","tag-sick","tag-strain","tag-superk","tag-this","tag-to","tag-urging","tag-virus","tag-winter","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}