Parents And Pregnant Women Warned Of Flu Danger
Doctors have issued an urgent call for pregnant women and young children to be vaccinated against influenza this April as fears of another record flu season grow.
Last year saw a record 365,000 confirmed flu cases in Australia, while vaccination rates for the disease slumped to their lowest level ever.
Professor Paul Griffin, Director of Infectious Diseases at Mater Hospital Brisbane, said that many people were unaware that pregnant women and children between the ages of 6 months to 5 years are susceptible to flu infections, as well as the over-65s and Indigenous Australians.
Queensland Health has already recorded 8988 flu cases this year – a 24% increase on the first quarter of 2024 – with 770 of these cases among children under 5.
“People wrongly assume flu is like COVID, which is more dangerous for older people than the young – but it isn’t,” Prof Griffin.
“Flu can be a very serious illness in children and lead to complications such as pneumonia, croup and ear infections which may require hospitalisation.
“Vaccination is also strongly recommended for expecting women as pregnancy weakens the immune system. Flu can lead to very serious complications for both mother and baby.”
Less than half of parents of children under 5 know that flu vaccination is recommended for the age group. Last year just 22 per cent of Queensland under-5s were vaccinated against flu – the joint lowest percentage recorded in Australia (see table below)[1].
https://www.mater.org.au/group/news/mater-news/april-2025/parents-and-pregnant-women-warned-of-flu-danger