There are new flu vaccines on offer for 2024. Should I get one? What do I need to know?

By Allen Cheng, Professor of Infectious Diseases, Monash University

Influenza is a common respiratory infection. Although most cases are relatively mild, flu can cause more severe illness in young children and older people.

Influenza virtually disappeared from Australia during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic when public health restrictions reduced contact between people. Since 2022, it has returned to a seasonal pattern, although the flu season has started and peaked a few months earlier than before 2020.

It’s difficult to predict the intensity of the flu season…

Read complete article

~	Ukraine: Civilians killed and injured as attacks on power and rail systems intensify

~	EU Parliament condemns the reintroduction of Georgia's foreign agent bill

~	Uganda’s tax system isn’t bringing in enough revenue, but is targeting small business the answer?

~	Is the London mayoral race tightening? New poll shows Sadiq Khan leads Susan Hall by 13 points

~	Gum arabic from Africa’s acacia trees in the Sahel is used in hundreds of products: what’s worth knowing

~	Young middle-class Nigerians are desperate to leave the country: insights into why

~	Dan Poulter defects from Tories to Labour: inside the art of switching teams

~	Saudi Arabia: Halt Executions of Child Offenders

~	Togo: Elections against a backdrop of muzzling dissenting voices

~	An activist translates Minecraft, manga, and Harry Potter from Russian into the Chuvash language