Influenza season: call for older Australians to protect themselves with a free vaccination

Older Australians should take steps to protect themselves from potentially life threatening winter illness – and have their annual free influenza shots, the Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, said today.

"Last year, 2.57 million Australians over the age of 65 received the free flu vaccinations from their GPs, at clinics or in aged care facilities across the country, Mrs Elliot said.

"In the last five years, influenza and pneumonia were responsible for 2.5 per cent of all deaths in Australia – and in 2006 resulted in 2725 deaths – making it the 12th highest cause of death.

“I am urging every eligible older Australian to take advantage of the National Immunisation Program – and not become another statistic," Mrs Elliot said.

Mrs Elliot made the annual call today with Member for Grayndler (Minister for Infrastructure) Anthony Albanese and Australia’s first Ambassador for Ageing, Noeline Brown.

Noeline Brown aged 69, will set an example for older Australians today by having a flu shot with a local GP in Petersham, Sydney.

Mr Albanese supported the call reminding the public that vaccinations are needed every year to provide protection against the most recent form of the influenza virus.

"Flu can be very serious for any age group but older people can be more susceptible to influenza complications, like pneumonia.

"Influenza can also complicate existing illnesses such as diabetes, heart conditions and severe asthma – with people needing to be hospitalised when conditions became life-threatening,” Mr Albanese said.

Mrs Elliot said, “This is why the Government not only recommends annual vaccinations for people 65 years of age and over, but provides them free of charge to this age group under the Program.

(The government has provided $26.2 million for the influenza vaccine program).

“Autumn is always the best time of year to be vaccinated, before flu outbreaks become more common during the colder months. This will allow the vaccine time to work before the winter starts,” she said.

Mrs Elliot is also encouraging older Australians to receive their pneumococcal vaccine as provided free under the National Immunisation Program for those over 65. For most people, vaccination is safe.

“I urge everyone over 65 to take these seasonal precautions to ensure that they receive the maximum benefit for a safer and healthier autumn and winter,” she said.

The influenza season usually commences in late-May and continues until September.

International trends
A Cross-divisional Influenza Task Force has been set up in the Department of Health and Ageing in order to share influenza information and facilitate improvements in planning for the influenza season.

The department, through the jurisdictions and the National Notifiable Diseases System, collects data on influenza illness and is able to detect the start of the influenza season and monitor severity through this system and through sentinel surveillance.

The Department of Health and Ageing’s Office of Health Protection says it is not possible to make predictions about the severity of an influenza season in advance. Severity depends on many factors, including the strains circulating in the community and the effectiveness of the current vaccine. Severity can also be expressed in terms of number of cases or severity of illness. The latter is determined by the strains of influenza circulating.

These strains are not yet known for Australia. The current Australian influenza vaccine composition covers strains which were seen in the 2008 influenza season in the Northern Hemisphere. It is expected that the Southern Hemisphere vaccine will provide good protection against expected strains for this influenza season.

Following heightened media attention during the 2007 influenza season in Australia, it could be expected that more Australians will be vaccinated against influenza this season potentially reducing the number of cases of illness.

Over 65 data – 2.7 million Australians
Currently, there are 2.7 million Australians aged 65 and over. Within 40 years the number of people aged over 65 will almost triple, from 2.8 million today to around 7.2 million in 2047, or from around 13 per cent of the population today to over 25 per cent.

Australia is facing a demographic shift. Australians now have one of the world’s longest life expectancy rates, outliving Swedes, Norwegians and Finns.

(Source: Department of Health and Ageing: April 2008)