Three children have passed away from a combination of infections – influenza A infections and secondary bacterial infection this week in Perth, Australia.
Perth hospitals have struggled to cope with large numbers of children presenting with flu-like symptoms overnight, following the deaths of three children with influenza AH3.
Staff at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) have examined 320 patients in the past 24 hours, double the amount they would see on a normal Saturday.
The Western Australian Health Department’s director of communicable disease control, Doctor Paul van Buynder, says parents with children who have the common cold should not be alarmed. But he says that if children are listless, have a fever over 38 degrees Celsius and a cough, they should seek medical attention.
Doctors in Perth say they have isolated the bacteria which, combined with the influenza A virus, has caused the death of three Perth children, but say they can not release the information until it has been discussed with the state coroner.
Doctor Anne Koehler from the South Australian Health Department says the current flu vaccine guards against the strain. “It’s apparently quite an unusual event in Western Australia and we know that the flu strain which is present in one state of Australia will soon be present in all of the states,” Dr Koehler said.