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https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/virus-soup-the-five-things-making-sydney-sick-20240516-p5je4k.html>
"Influenza and COVID-19 are spreading rapidly in NSW, triggering an early spike
in people visiting emergency departments, as a slew of respiratory illnesses
swirl in NSW at the start of the flu season.
The latest NSW Health data, published on Thursday, showed a 40 per cent jump in
COVID cases and a 30 per cent increase in influenza cases – both accompanied by
a rise in emergency department presentations – in the week to May 11. Rates of
respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a potentially serious illness that can cause
pneumonia in children, remain high and increased by 3 per cent in the same
period. There was a small decline in the number of young children with RSV.
“This winter, it is anticipated that there will be a large number of people
infected with COVID-19, influenza and/or RSV, as all three viruses will be
circulating at the same time,” NSW Health said.
Professor Tony Cunningham, an infectious diseases physician with the Westmead
Institute for Medical Research in Sydney, said the wave of respiratory
illnesses that typically spread during winter was driven by people congregating
in crowded indoor spaces and by young children.
“This [increase in cases] is what we expect with RSV and flu. The interesting
thing is COVID because COVID is not yet seasonal. The important thing is for
people to keep the vaccines up to date.”
Via
Guardian Australia.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
