AUGUST 3 2019 LISTENER‘D
iscontent” doesn’t tell the
half of it. This has been
the winter of pounding
headaches, aching limbs,
exfoliated throats and
darkened rooms.
Although some people
will not notice their encounter with the flu
virus – about a third who are infected never
get sick at all, although they can still pass it
on to others – others, including those who
shrug off their symptoms as “just the flu”,
will feel the whole potentially fatal brunt
of the virus.
“I can’t talk, I’m full of flu,” texted anormally fit and energetic North Auckland
woman to a friend early last month, to post-
pone a chat on the phone. The next day,
she was diagnosed with pneumonia and put
into an induced coma for 10 days in her
local hospital. She appeared to be recover-
ing, but a day after coming off life-support,
she was flown by helicopter to Auckland
City Hospital and given life-saving heart-
valve repair surgery. Before her confirmed
case of flu, she had no heart problems.FAST AND FURIOUS
Research by University of Otago, Wellington,G professor Michael Baker and Dr Trang Khieu
ET
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EVOLVING
THREAT
The flu season has been particularly bad this year,
but the way we record deaths may be masking the
true impact of the virus. by SALLY BLUNDELL
INFLUENZA
Tragedy: Zae Wallace
was the third person in
the Auckland region to
die from a flu-related
illness this year.