The flu vaccine's effectiveness may have dropped below 40 per cent this year, experts say, as flaws in its manufacturing and design become apparent.
The current vaccine is grown in eggs – but scientists are now concerned that may cause it to mutate, rendering it less effective.
Worse, the vaccine is only 20 to 30 per cent effective against the deadly virus strain running rampant through Australia's nursing homes. When administered to the elderly its effectiveness falls even further.
In response, experts are demanding the federal government introduce two new super-vaccines that are available overseas but not here.
"Even when the virus-vaccine match is perfect, the vaccine typically only yields about a 70 per cent effectiveness. That really is a reflection the vaccine is not perfect," said Associate Professor Aeron Hurt, part of the Australian team at the World Health Organisation working on the vaccine.
"Really, all we can do here is try to get the match as close as we can."
More than 180,000 cases of flu have been confirmed nationally this flu season, two and a half times the number of cases over the same period in 2016. In NSW three children were among 288 flu-related deaths, while in Victoria 95 people have died of flu-related conditions in 2017, according to the latest state-based data.
EmoticonEmoticon