Warning issued on jabs

THE flu season is off to a slow start in Tasmania this year, with a full-scale winter outbreak still around the corner.

Doctors have urged Tasmanians to get vaccinated against the flu if they have not already, as the season is still a couple of weeks away and likely to peak next month.

Commonwealth health data shows 128 cases of the flu were recorded in Tasmania from January through July 2.

With between 10 and 30 cases being recorded each month, the low numbers are not yet considered an outbreak.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Bastian Seidel said the flu was getting off to a slower start than last year, both in Tasmania and interstate.

“We are seeing lower levels of confirmed flu cases this year compared with what we saw last year … the peak is yet to come,” Dr Seidel said.

He said that, nationally, the number of flu cases reported in the month of June this year was 1530 — compared with 7761 cases reported in June last year.

The timing of the outbreak varies from year to year, with the peak typically hitting at the end of July and into August and September.

Dr Seidel said it was unlikely that vaccination rates were the reason for this year’s slower flu season outbreak.

“Vaccination rates are not high enough to account for that,” he said.

He urged anyone not yet vaccinated to get the flu jab, as it took only a couple of weeks to be effective.