Have your flu jabs now, say doctors

By CLAIRE TREVETT

Doctors are pleading with people to line up for their influenza vaccinations this autumn to halt an increase in hospital admissions from the virus.

Last year, Auckland's hospitals were snowed under when a surge of influenza patients hit in June and some patients were waiting for up to 16 hours to be admitted.

The numbers admitted to hospital for influenza has increased by about 100 a year over the past three years, from 379 in 2001 to 483 in 2002 and 586 in 2003. It was estimated that more than 46,116 people were affected by influenza last year, compared with 34,730 in 2002.

Christchurch-based virologist Dr Lance Jennings urged people to get vaccinated as soon as possible to give the vaccine the two weeks it needed to be effective.

He said people could not rely on last year's vaccination because each year the vaccine was refined to cover different strains.

All strains of influenza spread quickly from person to person and could have serious consequences.

A new strain of influenza was expected to hit New Zealand this year, after the A-Fujian, a particularly virulent strain, hit Europe and America.

Dr Clair Mills, manager of the National Immunisation Programme, said a vaccination for A-Fujian was added into the mix that covered the common A-New Caledonian and B-Hong Kong strains.

Dr Mills said people aged over 65 and people with chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, cancer or respiratory problems were most at risk, so the Ministry of Health funded free vaccinations for those groups, available from most general practices before the end of June.

The vaccine could reduce hospital admissions by 50 per cent and mortality by 70 per cent for those in the high-risk groups.

Dr Mills said New Zealand lagged behind countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States in terms of its vaccination coverage.

Last year, 690,210 vaccines were given out. About 375,000 were under the free-funding scheme. Flu vaccination coverage was estimated to be about 60 per cent nationwide for people aged over 65 and lower for those with chronic illnesses.

"In terms of the population at risk, that's not good enough," Dr Mills said. "We would like that to be over 75 per cent. The Australians have put in a lot of funding over the last 10 years and that has made a big difference."

While some of New Zealand's lag could be attributed to funding and resources, it was also because of New Zealanders' "she'll be right" attitude.

"A lot of people think, 'I'm alright, it's nature's way of taking its course', and others think the vaccine might give them the flu, which is wrong."

New Zealand's worst flu outbreak was the 1918 post-World War I pandemic. Dr Mills said the virus had an amazing capacity to mutate and there was always a chance another pandemic could hit.

However, she said the outbreak of the Sars virus had stimulated research into vaccinations which would hopefully give scientists the ability to produce new vaccines more quickly.

FLU FACTS

* A severe new strain of influenza is expected to hit NZ this year.

* There were 46,116 cases of flu in NZ last year, compared with 34,730 the year before.

* The number of people needing hospital treatment jumps by 100 a year.

* Last year some patients waited 16 hours for a hospital bed.

* Doctors are urging people to get vaccinated.