General News
2 July, 2025
Experts urge flu shots
LOCAL health experts are urging Far North residents to get vaccinated as soon as possible, with high influenza cases in the Far North causing concern for this upcoming tourist season.
Having so far recorded 1038 cases of influenza since the start of the year, Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service is encouraging people to get vaccinated, believing that the season has already commenced in the region.
Currently treating three people hospitalised for the virus, Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service said this figure was expected to climb higher in coming weeks, with 2024 seeing a total 589 people hospitalised with flu in the Cairns and Hinterland region.
Tropical Public Health Services director Dr Jacqui Murdoch warned people not to be complacent when it came to influenza, particularly with significantly high flu numbers in southern states.
“Flu is highly contagious and can have serious health impacts, but it is also the most common vaccine-preventable disease in Australia,” she said. “This respiratory disease can cause very serious illness in otherwise healthy people, putting most healthy people in bed for one-to-two weeks, unless they are vaccinated.”
