At least 170,000 influenza cases have been confirmed this season, almost two-and-a-half times more than in 2016. Flu outbreak kills seven residents at Victorian aged care home Read moreDespite tragic cases such as these, the spike in flu cases is a pattern that plays out globally every 10 to 15 years. “Of the children who die after contracting the flu, they find golden staph as a complication in a lot of them. One of the things the flu perversely does is set up the throat to become ripe for bacterial infection. Death seems to especially affect those who got sick, got better, then got sick again.”This is important because these bacterial infections can usually be treated with antibiotics.

Source: The Guardian September 24, 2017 18:00 UTC