Experts are warning that the new strain could eclipse the horror 2017 season, which also saw the killer Aussie flu sweep across the globe
THERE’S a new killer flu strain that is the most dangerous in the world, health experts have warned.
The Brisbane flu, which originated in the Australian state of Queensland, will be included in this year’s four-strain flu vaccine, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.
Along with the Brisbane strain, which is a form of influenza B, the Michigan A strain, Singapore A strain and Phuket B strain will also be covered in vaccinations.
The WHO named the flu the deadliest in the world after last years horrific flu season in Australia, which killed 1,100 people.
Australian Medical Association president Michael Gannon told news.com.au said the unenviable title given to Brisbane shows how bad last year’s flu outbreak was.
“The WHO give the name of a regional area or city to a new form of virus and that enables them document them,” he said.
“It does reflect the fact that last year’s flu season in Queensland was a particularly bad one.
“However, it is just a name and the truth is that influenza is always dangerous and it is constantly mutating and changing.
“That is why we need an influenza vaccination every year. And, because of the capacity of the virus to mutate, we see different types of influenza in different parts of the world at different times.”
Some 3,200 people in Queensland have already been diagnosed with the flu this year, and winter hasn’t hit yet.
Experts are warning that the new strain could eclipse the horror 2017 season, which also saw the killer Aussie flu sweep across Ireland.
One expert has warned a killer flu pandemic could sweep the globe “tomorrow”, killing 33 million people in its first 200 days.
Dr Jonathan Quick, chair of the Global Health Council, said the flu virus is “the most diabolical, hardest-to-control, and fastest-spreading potential viral killer known to humankind”.
He warned of starvation, medicine supplies running low, energy systems crippling under the pressure and the collapse of the global economy.
“The most likely culprit will be a new and unprecedentedly deadly mutation of the influenza virus. The conditions are right, it could happen tomorrow,” he said.
People over the age of 65, young children, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions like asthma and heart disease are the most at-risk in the community.
They’re most likely to catch flu and also most likely to suffer complications, and even death, from the illness.
The best way to protect yourself from falling ill with the flu is to regularly wash your hands to kill germs and to practice safe hygiene by using a tissue when you sneeze and cough.
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