12:00a.m. 23rd July 2008

| By Damian Bathersby

The Sunshine Coast has been warned to brace itself for an influenza pandemic which will be avoided only if immunisation rates are vastly improved.

As the federal government called for elderly Australians to take advantage of free flu vaccinations, Nambour GP Wayne Herdy said all age groups needed to put greater emphasis on protecting themselves as a pandemic was inevitable in the future.

“The reality is that the world is overdue for a pandemic and we don’t know where or when it will hit,” the former president of the Sunshine Coast Medical Association said.

“That’s not a scare tactic and it’s not just me saying it.

“All the experts have been saying the same thing for a couple of years now – they are concerned the world is getting under-immunised.

“The big pandemics normally occur every 11 to 13 years and we haven’t had one in that time.

“Without immunity we are going to be very susceptible and it will be a significant problem.”

Federal Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot has urged people over 65 to be vaccinated against the flu, saying an increasing number of people with “influenza-like illnesses” were visiting their GPs this year.

Dr Herdy said the Coast was experiencing its usual winter flu outbreak but “nothing spectacular”.

In fact, people over 65 were better protected than most for the simple reason that their vaccinations were free.

Best available figures suggested more than 70% were protected – much higher than young people, who were often forgotten, he said.

“Parents are so busy getting their kids immunised against everything else that the flu might be overlooked.”

The 20-50 age group was the least-immunised because they were “strong and robust”.

“They are less at risk of getting sick themselves but they are at risk of transmitting the virus through the community,” Dr Herdy said.

“They believe they are not in need of immunisation but it boils down to the fact that the more people who are immunised, the less likely it is we will suffer a pandemic.”

Of most concern were people who could transmit the virus through the community – health workers, police officers, hospital workers, teachers and parents taking children to school.

Dr Sue Vlack, public health medical officer with the Sunshine Coast Population Health Unit, backed Dr Herdy’s claims, saying the area from Caloundra to Gympie had recorded fewer notifications of influenza than last year.

However, flu “notifications” were an indication of how many patients local doctors chose to have laboratory tested, rather than a true reflection of flu victims.

“During 2007 there was a large rise in notifications, with approximate monthly totals of 625 and 130 for June, July and August,” she said.

“This year we have seen six for June and seven for three weeks of July.

“But we do know we will get a rise in cases in coming months, as we do every year.”