Australia remained free from H5N1 bird flu until recently. This paper provides an update on the H5N1 situation and an overview of Australian governments' response to the threat. Work is being undertaken to determine whether H5N1 has become established in mainland bird populations and to date it has not spread to poultry.

This study assessed the impact of different COVID‐19 vaccination strategies on infections and hospitalisations in the context of non‐seasonal epidemic waves. It concludes that annual COVID‐19 vaccination campaigns at the same time as those for influenza could reduce the number of COVID‐19‐related hospitalisations.

A report on the surveillance and epidemiology of acute respiratory infections in Australia in 2024, with a focus on the nationally notifiable conditions coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Overall it finds there was high acute respiratory infection activity with moderate severity but a lower burden on health system utilisation in...

The seasonal influenza vaccine is an important protective measure for those at risk of serious outcomes, including young children. Flutracking data demonstrates that government-funded vaccines can lead to an almost five-fold increase in self-reported vaccine uptake of the targeted age group, as well as previously unreported flow-on effects to older children.

The proposed metric outlined in this article could navigate experts in assessing open access data quality and quantity for conducting credible statistical analyses, estimating disease trends, and developing outbreak forecasting systems.