5 charts on the 2019 flu season

Editor's note

Tragically, there have been more than 200 deaths in Australia from influenza so far this year. It’s impossible to shy away from the countless headlines – frightening snippets tell us of the toll the flu is taking across the country, and suggest it might be the worst season we’ve seen yet.

A look at the data we’ve got so far tells us this is a bad year. We’ve seen a high number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths – all earlier than usual. But it doesn’t look like it’s going to surpass the horror flu season seen in 2017. While it’s too early to draw any concrete conclusions, the data we’ve got gives us a reasonable picture of the trends we’re seeing in the 2019 flu season so far.

Today, our multimedia whiz Wes Mountain has put together 5 charts which bring together the most important stats. And Ian Barr, from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, explains what to make of it all.

Phoebe Roth

Assistant Editor, Health+Medicine

Top story

The impact of the flu on a population can be measured by looking at figures including cases, hospitalisations and deaths. From shutterstock.com

It’s a bad year for flu, but it’s too early to call it the worst ever – 5 charts on the 2019 season so far

Ian Barr, WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza

Headlines about this year's flu season have been alarming. It's true, we are having a serious season – but the data doesn't indicate it's the worst one we've ever had.

Violence against women is often represented as a timeless and universal phenomenon, creating the view the problem is too large to fix, or that only the worst abuses are worthy of attention. James Ross/AAP Image

The long history of gender violence in Australia, and why it matters today

Alana Piper, University of Technology Sydney; Ana Stevenson, University of the Free State

History shows that domestic violence has been deeply entrenched in the culture of Australia from its early days. Progress is only made by understanding this history – and talking about it.

Sculpture of ninth-century Persian scholar Al-Khwarizmi in Khiva, Uzbekistan. Latin discovery of Al-Khwarizmi’s work introduced the numerals 0-9, one of many ways in which Islamic cultures have contributed to Western civilisation. LBM1948/Wikimedia Commons

Explainer: what Western civilisation owes to Islamic cultures

Constant Mews, Monash University

Western civilisation and Islam are sometimes seen as diametrically opposed. Yet Islamic cultures have contributed much to the West, in language, philosophy and literature.

The fate of deer carcasses is a crucial consideration in monitoring the success of future culling. Emma Spencer

Making deer fair game for unlicensed hunting is the right step for New South Wales

Thomas Newsome, University of Sydney; Emma Spencer, University of Sydney

The NSW government has announced plans to remove feral deer from its list of official game animals. With careful monitoring, the resulting free-for-all could help curb their booming numbers.

Politics + Society

VIDEO: Michelle Grattan on the government’s plans for Indigenous recognition

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Michelle Grattan speaks with University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini about the government's plans to put forward a referendum to recognise Indigenous Australians in the Constitution.
Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest is the tip of the iceberg: human trafficking is the world’s fastest growing crime

Larissa Christensen, University of the Sunshine Coast; Nadine McKillop, University of the Sunshine Coast; Susan Rayment-McHugh, University of the Sunshine Coast

Sex trafficking is the most common form of human trafficking. Globally, an estimated 4.8 million people are forced into sexual exploitation.

Environment + Energy
The river red gum is an icon of the driest continent Gregory Moore, University of Melbourne Red gums connect the continental fringes of Australia with its arid heart, marching along waterways.

Cities
China can learn from Australian urban design, but it’s not all one-way traffic Lucile Jacquot, Griffith University; Karine Dupré, Griffith University; Yang Liu, Griffith University Australia has well established urban design guidelines, whereas many Chinese cities don't have any – and it shows. But Australia can also learn from China.

Business + Economy

Simple fixes could help save Australian consumers from up to $3.6 billion in ‘loyalty taxes’

Allan Fels, University of Melbourne

Governments can do more to expose the deceptive corporate practice of charging loyal customers more, says competition champion Allan Fels.
The edges of home ownership are becoming porous. It’s no longer a one-way street

Rachel Ong ViforJ, Curtin University

Whether you owned a home or not used to be straightforward. The boundaries are becoming permeable.
Inequality is growing, but it is also changing as Australia’s super rich evolve

Salvatore Ferraro, RMIT University

Inherited wealth matters less among Australia's super rich, fresh ideas matter more.
They’ve cut deeming rates, but what are they?

Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

Often misunderstood, deeming rates are back broadly where they should be.

Education

Report finds every $1 Australia spends on preschool will return $2, but this won’t just magically happen

Jen Jackson, Victoria University

The promised returns on investment in preschool won't just happen. They depend on a complex chain of events, from preschool through to adulthood, involving the child and their family.
Group punishment doesn’t fix behaviour - it just makes kids hate school

Jeffrey Thomas, University of Tasmania

Collective punishments take some of the heavy lifting from the teacher and place it on the peers to impose social sanctions. But it's likely to make students disengaged, and misbehave more.

Science + Technology
It’s not easy to give a robot a sense of touch Ajay Pandey, Queensland University of Technology; Jonathan Roberts, Queensland University of Technology Our sense of touch lets us know how hard or soft something is, how solid or pliable it is to handle. That's an important skill if you want robots to handle things safely.

Health + Medicine
The TGA’s proposed breast implant ban exposes a litany of failures, and fails to protect women Bruce Baer Arnold, University of Canberra; Wendy Bonython, Bond University The proposed Australian ban of some types of breast implants is too little, too late. It also reveals regulatory failures that need to be fixed if Australian consumers are to be protected.