Canberra doctors were hit with a wave of 386 influenza cases in August this year, but the figures are likely under-reported, a prominent GP says.
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The latest figures from ACT Health show 386 cases of influenza A reported in August this year, the second biggest flu season in the past five years after the bumper 1100 reported cases in 2014.
The ACT Health influenza report, which includes data up to August 20, shows a 656 influenza cases reported for the year to date, compared with an average of 493 for the same period over each of the past five years.
Australian Medical Association ACT president-elect Dr Antonio Di Dio, who runs a general practice surgery in Yarralumla, said his surgery had seen "more flu cases than we've ever seen before, with the exception of the big 2014 season".
While the more common influenza A cases represent the lion's share of reported flu cases this year, there were also 44 cases of influenza B in August and 77 for the year to date, compared with a bumper year in 2015 of some 689 influenza B cases.
But Dr Di Dio said the number of cases could be much higher than the official estimates due to under-reporting.
"Doctors can often make a diagnosis of influenza but don't always test for it, and so they don't always have a record of the exact number that has occurred," he said.
"Quite often in these situations you will have a number of un-reported cases, where the doctor hasn't tested, a patient forgets to get tested or simply refuses."
Dr Di Dio said while many people confused the common cold with actual influenza, the key differences in symptoms were a high temperature, significant muscular aches and pains, and high fever.
"In children, it can also have other symptoms as well such as vomiting and diarrhoea," he said.
Dr Di Dio said there had also been a concurrent outbreak across Canberra of gastroenteritis, which might have some people confused about whether they had gastro or influenza.
"I would have seen about 25 cases of gastroenteritis over the past few weeks, which isn't particularly higher than previous years," he said.
"But when they happen concurrently with the flu season, it's very easy to mistake one for the other, and its critical for public health that doctors don't just assume it is just gastroenteritis," he said.
He said if people needed to check for genuine flu symptoms, particularly fevers, aches and high temperatures, and if they were treated early, it was possible to avoid the worst of the illness.
