With concerns for a second wave of COVID-19 still on the minds of health officials, we mustn’t forget that with the cold weather comes the Influenza virus.
According to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, there were 307,907 laboratory confirmed notifications of Influenza in Australia last year, with 902 deaths. So far in 2020, there have been already been a total of 20,536 laboratory confirmed notifications (as of June 1), with almost 4,500 cases just in Victoria.
When someone is infected, the symptoms usually appear between one and three days later. Fever, sore throat, headache, muscle and joint pain and tiredness are the first and most commons symptoms of the Influenza virus.
For getting over the flu, doctors advise to stay warm in bed, have a rest, drink a lot of water and take the prescribed antiviral medication.
Vaccination is the best way to avoid the winter flu. Vaccination builds immunity against the virus and prevents transmission to other people. Vaccination is required every year, as the virus can often mutate and change every year. We should already be used to washing our hands, sanitising, and coughing and sneezing into our elbow from the COVID-19 pandemic, these extra safety measures should continue throughout the year.
