SYDNEY, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Health authorities in the Australian state of Queensland said on Wednesday that an 11-year-old teenager died last week after contracting influenza, with the state's Chief Health Officer John Gerrard urging local residents to get vaccinated.
"We would like to extend our sincere sympathies to the family during this extremely difficult time. This experience is heartbreaking for everyone involved," said a spokesperson from the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service.
Meanwhile, Gerrard expressed his concern over the rise in influenza B cases and the high rate of unvaccinated patients, not least with school resuming this week.
"Influenza B is causing severe illness in otherwise healthy Queenslanders, young people in particular. We experienced an influenza A wave leading into winter, but influenza B has taken over as the dominant strain in July," said Gerrard.
The officer underlined that there have been three times more hospital admissions for influenza B than influenza A in children aged less than five years.
Since July 1, 78 children, aged 6 months to four years old, were hospitalized with flu, of which 50 with the B strain. Only one of these children was vaccinated. There have also been 11 infants under six months old hospitalized with flu, eight of whom had the B strain.
"Queensland's flu toll for 2023 stands at 47,300 case notifications, including 3,814 hospital admissions and 31 ICU admissions. If you or your children have not been vaccinated against the flu, I urge you to please book in with your GP or pharmacist to do so," Gerrard stressed.
The death of the 11-year-old was known to the public only a day after the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that a teenage girl from the New South Wales (NSW) Central Coast lost her life due to influenza B.
Last week, NSW Health Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant warned local communities of the "concerning" increase in influenza rates and hospitalizations among children and teenagers.
"In recent weeks we have seen influenza cases rising fastest among very young children as well as those aged five to 16 years, with these two age groups often accounting for around half of all flu cases diagnosed in NSW each week," she said. ■