University of Auckland\u2019s Dr Ji Yeon Park said people need to be aware the flu is more than just a bad cold.<\/p>\n
Experts warn flu cases may soon start to rise across New Zealand. Photo \/ 123rf<\/p>\n
\u201cInfluenza can be a serious illness that leads to hospitalisation, intensive care unit admission, and sometimes death,\u201d Park said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile most people recover after a few days of symptoms, others progress to serious complications.\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Michael Baker, from the University of Otago, Wellington\u2019s department of public health, said mortality rates tend to rise about this time of year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a temperate country like Aotearoa New Zealand, the winter months are always the most dangerous,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMortality during the four coldest months of June to September is on average 14% higher than the rest of the year, resulting in around 1700 additional deaths annually.<\/p>\n
\u201cInfluenza is estimated to contribute to almost a third of these excess winter deaths with many of the remainder associated with other seasonal infections such as RSV. <\/p>\n
\u201cCovid-19 is still adding to the burden of respiratory illness but is not seasonal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baker said these deaths tend to be concentrated in older age groups and in those with underlying illnesses. He said vaccination is the most direct way to prevent illnesses such as influenza.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe currently have influenza vaccine supplied each year from April 1, which provided good protection against serious illness, hospitalisation and death from this infection. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll New Zealanders should take advantage of this vaccine, which is provided free for the highest risk groups. <\/p>\n
\u201cGetting your annual flu vaccine is also a good time to get your Covid-19 booster.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"University of Auckland\u2019s Dr Ji Yeon Park said people need to be aware the flu is more than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2840,806,11154,4509,186692,3528,1379,28292,78,117,111,43,139,69,7676,1436,1355,23368,61,25396,72643,4998,23644,102,80],"class_list":["post-471846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-across","tag-as","tag-begins","tag-cold","tag-colder","tag-doctors","tag-flu","tag-illnesses","tag-in","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rates","tag-rise","tag-starting","tag-tipped","tag-to","tag-urge","tag-vaccination","tag-weather","tag-winter","tag-with","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471846","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=471846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}