Influenza comes around every year. So why is this year’s flu season proving much worse than expected, with millions infected and at least 120 people already dead?
The disease is caused by influenza viruses of which four groups exist (types A,B, C and D). The first three infect people, and the first two may cause serious disease. This year, there have been significant numbers of both A and B type infections. The A type has acquired the name Aussie flu because it first started infecting large numbers of people Down Under in June 2017. The current B-type is commonly referred to as Japanese flu, or Yamagata type, based on its initial identification in the 1990s. The reality is that Aussie flu is unlikely to have originated in Australia and Japanese flu has been in circulation around the world for decades.
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