Fierce Australian flu season puts UAE doctors on red alert

Winter Down Under typically signals what may be to come elsewhere

Health experts in the UAE have urged residents to consider vaccination as it is the best method of prevention against the flu virus. Reuters

Record cases of winter flu recorded in the southern hemisphere have placed UAE doctors on alert about the potential for a wave of illness.

Australia has reported record cases of influenza for its winter season, that runs from April to October. Typically the severity of Australia’s winter flu is an early indicator of what lies in store for the northern hemisphere’s prevailing winter months, and the Middle East.

More than 410,000 lab-confirmed cases were reported in Australia this year, up from an all-time high the previous year of 365,000, the Royal Australian College of GPs said. The UAE rolled out its annual flu campaign in late September, calling on young children, the elderly and vulnerable groups to be vaccinated.

With the school term ending this year on December 5, many families will be planning an extra long winter break, with more likely to travel home for the festive season. Doctors said that could exacerbate the spread of flu at a typically busy time of year for medics.

“The trend this year is towards the higher side of cases, although every winter we have a lot of influenza cases,” said Dr Lekha Kawal Kapoor, an ear, nose and throat specialist at Medcare Hospital, Sharjah.

“Seasonal viral infections always peak at this time, although the number of cases we are seeing are slightly higher than previous years. In the winter season people come together for the festive season and the holidays.

"They travel to various places which increases their exposure to others who could be carrying the virus and spreading it around. We always tend to see a spike after any kind of holidays, but definitely after Christmas.”

Record number of cases

In Australia’s winter, more than 44,500 infections were among children under five, around 11 per cent of all cases, which was disproportionately high suggesting that age group is more vulnerable. More than one in three cases were in older children under 15.

Dr Kapoor said most of the cases tested so far in the UAE this winter at her hospital, were the A(H3N2) viral strain of influenza, with familiar symptoms of fever, sore throat, cough, nasal discharge and muscle aches.

Australia has reported record cases of influenza this winter. Getty Images

“Most schools have very strictly told the children that if there is fever, or they're having any flu symptoms, don’t come into school,” said Dr Kapoor.

“Workplaces are also encouraging people who are actively coughing or have a high fever or flu to not come in to work. Since Covid, there has been a lot more awareness of how these viruses spread.”

It usually takes around two days from catching the virus, before symptoms appear. In the UK, government figures showed while flu levels are currently low, that looks set to change. An NHS report said cases were on the rise and there had been an unusually early start of the influenza season.

Of influenza viruses subtyped at the UKHSA Respiratory Virus Unit, the majority were A(H3N2). Overall weekly hospital admissions were increasing at 3.81 per 100,000 compared with 2.44 per 100,000 seven days before.

Meanwhile intensive care admissions were also on the rise, up in a week from 0.10 per 100,000 to 0.12. Last winter, the US faced its worst flu season since 2017-18, with an estimated 38,000-99,000 related deaths, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention figures showed.

Daily treatment

At the NMC centre in Maysaloon, Dr Lintu Sam, a specialist in family medicine, said 70 per cent of her patients were being seen for respiratory issues.

“Most of the patients I’m seeing every day are presenting with acute respiratory infections,” said Dr Sam. “That usually includes high fever, headache, malaise, cough and muscle pains. Mostly, after taking paracetamol or an antibiotic, the temperature goes down.

“But the minute that is over, the temperature spikes up again, which is not something we typically see.

“Patients are saying that they're having very severe fatigue, and severe body pains so the flu this year is presenting differently, with people having fever with gastrointestinal issues like diarrhoea and vomiting.

“If I see around 10 patients a day, around seven of them will be having some kind of kind of respiratory infection. If you have the symptoms, please get treatment early as it can lead to increased respiratory infections, and pneumonia, which we are already seeing.”