Highly transmissible flu strain Super-K infects more than 2,500 Australians

Despite the aggressive spread of Super-K, the flu vaccine protects against severe illness, health authorities say. Photograph: Biel Aliño/EPA

More than 2,500 Australians have rung in the new year with a highly transmissible new strain of influenza, and health authorities are on alert for what could be Australia’s worst year since tracking began 35 years ago.

Last year’s record, when more than half a million Australians contracted a laboratory-certified form of flu and 1,508 people died, was a 44% increase on the 2024 mortality rate.