In January, Australia experienced a surge in influenza fatalities, with 63 deaths reported—approximately double the typical count for this month in previous years.
Julian Rait, Vice President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), attributed this troubling trend to high infection rates combined with declining vaccination levels, creating an ideal environment for flu outbreaks in the country.
“We might witness a repeat of last year’s situation, or possibly something worse with the emergence of the new ‘Super-K’ variant,” he explained to nine.com.au.
Rait has been vocal about the persistently low flu vaccination rates in Australia, which he believes have contributed significantly to several severe flu seasons.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, over half of Australians received annual flu vaccinations. Currently, that number has dropped to about one in three.
The groups most vulnerable to fatal outcomes from the flu include older adults and children under the age of five.
Older people and children under the age of five are at increased risk of flu-related death.
But in 2025, only 25 per cent of children under five received a flu shot, while 60.5 per cent of people over 65 were vaccinated. – the lowest number in six years.
In the 46 patients studied, getting vaccinated only prompted a 1.7 to 2-fold increase in patients’ antibodies to H3N2 subclade K – nicknamed ‘Super-K’ – compared to an almost 3-fold increase for other strains.
Combined with a lower baseline immunity to ‘Super-K’ due to it being a new strain, this means those studied had as much as 7.8 times lower levels of antibodies to fight off a ‘Super-K’ infection than previous strains of flu.
However, the AMA said this wouldn’t apply to Australia’s new seasonal flu shot, due to be rolled out next month.
New recommendations by the World Health Organization have seen a subclade K variant incorporated into this year’s trivalent flu shot for Australia, which should boost its efficacy against the ‘Super-K’ strain.
Epidemiologist Dr David Muscatello said the influenza virus was “constantly mutating”, with a significantly new and more infectious strain popping up around once every 10 years.
“The virus is drifting all the time because it’s constantly mutating, so every ten years or so we might see a drift that more easily infects people in the population,” he told nine.com.au.
However, Muscatello was quick to point out that there is no evidence to suggest that the ‘Super-K’ strain causes more serious illness.
There, more than 90 per cent of influenza A cases are now the ‘Super-K’ variant.
So far, 90 children have died from flu-related complications.
The Australian Medical Association is now urging Australians to roll up their sleeves and help boost vaccination rates.
“Super K is much more easily transmitted and clearly with our low vaccination rates, it could well take off in winter when people spend more time indoors together,” Rait warned.
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