NT Health’s Public Health Physician Dr Ashish Yadav says the NT has recorded 4,000 flu cases and 12 deaths so far this year, an increase of 20 per cent on last year and he is reminding people to stay home if they are unwell and get vaccinated

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now there is a warning this morning for Territorians. There's
been a sharp rise in flucases across the top end
and sadly eight people have now died this year from influenza.
There has been nearly twenty nine hundred confirmed cases in
twenty twenty five so far this year, as I understand,
with over eight hundred of those just in the past month. Now,

(00:21):
health officials are pointing to big events, more people traveling
in cooler weather as some of the key reasons that
the virus is spreading more quickly than usual. Joining us
on the line is Into Health's public health physician, doctor
Ashishya Dove. Good morning to you, doctor you Dove.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Good morning, Katie. Glad to be back.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yeah, good to have you on the show. Now, we've
obviously seen quite a large number two nine hundred flu
cases in the territory this year. What are your things
behind this sudden spike?

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Absolutely, and I must say that I've had some recent numbers.
Those will the numbers at the end of July. Unfortunately,
we have now almost touched the four thousand marks. So
we have four thousand confirmed influenza cases this year and
again very unfortunate. We've had twelve deaths so far this year, So.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Four thousand confirmed cases now and twelve deaths this year,
Doctor A.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Dallas.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
In terms of those deaths, are they people from all
around the Northern territory? Are they you know which locations
are we talking Darwin, Alice Springs.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yes, it is all around, and it depends because flu
as we all know that it can be a very
mild disease, but it can have severe complications as well,
so it depends if you are having other pre morbid conditions.
So that's where there is more mortality. So it is everywhere,

(01:58):
and this is not what we were not expecting. This
is how it has been every year. Yes, this year
we've had comparatively more cases and more deaths. So it
is twenty percent higher than twenty twenty four and almost
eighty seven percent higher than twenty twenty three.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Well, why do you think we've seen? I mean, the
twenty percent higher than last year is a big jump,
but eighty seven percent higher than the year prior. Do
you think the year prior was maybe because we're still
sort of not COVID days, but a little bit where
we were still maybe a little bit more aware of
you know that like wearing masks and things.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, so since the end of pandemic, the COVID nineteen,
I mean during the pandemic, there was reduction in the
flucases and it is a very seasonal disease. So during
the pan to make there were increase in personal hygiene,
people were maintaining physical distancing. So that's when the cases

(03:07):
really dropped. And this virus actually behaves very It is
a very weird virus, as I always say. So a
post pandemic, there have been some internal viral changes as well.
And since then the borders opened, there was a lot
more travel, not just domestically, but people from overseas came

(03:29):
in as well, So that's where we saw the upsurge
in those flowcases.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yeah, right, and so and.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Of course to mention the vaccine coverage, since COVID nineteen,
the vaccine coverage has gone down everywhere.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Have you also sort of saying or do you think
there has been that spike in recent recent weeks due
to some of those major events that people have been attending.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
There was a spike in July, for sure, and that's
we would normally see because it's the dry season, a
lot more travel, a lot more visitors from everywhere, and
it sort of continued in August and a bit in September,
but we are seeing a downtrend since then. Now fortunately

(04:17):
the cases are coming down.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
Well. That is good. That is good to hear in
terms of you know, the advice for Territorians this morning,
particularly if they're starting to feel unwell, when should they
stay home? You know, when should they go and say help?
What's the advice?

Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, So anyone who's got any of those respiratory symptoms
like coughing, sneezing, fever, headache, they should try to stay
at home as much as possible. And again my advice
as a medical advisor for immunization, get your flu shots
every year. The flu virus it changes every year, so

(04:54):
that's why it's important to receive those shots annually. And
the vaccine is free and for many people who are
at risk of serious disease and hospitalization. So talk to
your vaccine provider now and get those shots now.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
Just Also, something that we've previously spoken about is rhodavirus
and particularly in Catherine. Do you have any update on
how things are going there at the moment in terms
of those numbers.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yes, I do have some numbers. So since July this year,
they were almost one hundred and eighty six cases of
rotavirus illness reported in the ant and almost sixty three
percent of them were in children under the age of
five years, So, particularly in Catherine, in July, we experienced

(05:45):
a spike in cases and thirty percent of those children
who had this disease were not fully vaccinated for this rotavirus.
But the good news is that the number of cases
in Catherine have dropped since then. We had almost thirty
four cases in July, sixteen in August and almost less
than ten in September. But yeah, we also had a

(06:08):
spike since then in Alice, where we had fifty cases
almost in a four week period.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
They're right, And so what's the advice around ronavirus in
terms of, you know, some of the signs and symptoms
and what we need to do to protect ourselves from roodavirus.

Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, rotavirus, as you know that, it is infectious and
it spreads by fiicooral route. So one of the preventive
methods is of course the vaccine, but the vaccine is
only recommended for children less than five years of age,
so for others, once we know that there is rotavirus around,

(06:51):
we need to just follow the basic hygiene through hand washing,
especially after using the toilet. We just need to make
sure that nappies for those pubs are handled very carefully.
And then anyone with diarrhea should not be involved in

(07:12):
food handling, and should not be attending work, school or childcare,
and should not be swimming in public pools.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
It seems like common sense, doctor, but sometimes that common
sense is not so easy to find. And I guess
it's always good for people to know what they do
need to do. But yeah, I guess if we all
practice that that good hygiene, it makes a big difference.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:39):
And as I always say, just try to get your vaccines.
I mean the rotavirus vaccine. There are two doorses recommended
for those kids under the six years under six months,
So get those two shots for those children, and get
the flu shots annually for everyone who's recommended.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
Well. MT Health's public health physician, Doctor ashish Yadov, good
to speak to you this morning. I really appreciate your time.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
Thanks get thank you,