It’s almost spring. And while respiratory infections seem to have passed their peak many people are still getting sick.

So is it still worth getting a flu shot?

The short answer is “yes”. If you haven’t had one already this year, it’s not too late.

Flu season started early, could end late

Flu seasons are notoriously unpredictable. Temperature swings, population immunity, and new viral strains are among factors influencing how widely the virus spreads.

Australia’s flu season usually runs from April to October, peaking between June and September.

But this year was different. It started early. Laboratory-confirmed cases between January and March 2025 were almost 60% higher than the same period in 2024. Since then, numbers have dipped slightly compared to last year.

However, we could still see thousands more cases before 2025 ends if the season follows last year’s pattern, and extends well beyond October.

This year, influenza A has been the dominant strain across all age groups. Think of influenza A as the more common, quickly evolving type of flu that often triggers larger, more severe outbreaks. The other main type, influenza B, evolves more slowly and usually causes milder illness, although it can still be serious, especially for children.

Is it still worth getting vaccinated in August?

Absolutely. While flu activity usually declines after July, the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of flu shows the virus does still circulate outside the typical flu season.

If you’ve already had flu this year, natural infection offers some protection. But this is generally less reliable and narrower than vaccination. Natural infection cannot reliably provide immunity in older people, who have a much poorer immune response to infection. For younger people, although their immmune system mounts a strong response, it is against the specific influenza strain that has infected them, and gives little protection against other strains. This is why vaccination is preferable.

If you are still sick with the flu, current recommendations are that you should wait until you are recovered before getting a flu shot. This allows your immune system to generate a strong response to the vaccine.

Once vaccinated, it takes about two weeks to develop immunity. Protection is strongest in the first few months.

Pregnant women and international travellers can benefit from vaccination at any time of year.

How well do they work?

Effectiveness of flu vaccines varies year to year, depending on how well the vaccine strains match those going around. This season, the match appears excellent – about a 98% match (for key strains).

However, the vaccine doesn’t completely protect you from getting infected (no vaccine does). This is because levels of immunity and our response to infection vary from person to person.

Flu vaccines are generally 40–60% effective against experiencing a negative health outcome, for example developing the flu and attending a GP practice or being hospitalised.

So vaccination against the flu is particularly important for high-risk groups such as elderly people, young children, pregnant women, and people with chronic (long-term) conditions.

Are they safe?

Data about vaccine safety are reassuring. According to AusVaxSafety, a surveillance system that monitors vaccine safety, since Mar 31 this year about 197,950 people have reported their experience after a flu shot, and 82% reported no adverse reactions.

The most common were mild and short-lived, such as a sore arm, headache or fatigue. Only 0.3% needed to see a doctor.

You cannot catch the flu from the vaccine itself. This is because it contains an inactivated or “killed” version of the virus. This means it is not live and cannot cause infection.

Which flu vaccine should I get?

All flu vaccines in Australia this year are quadrivalent, which means they protect against four strains.

There’s an option called Flucelvax Quad, which is produced in mammalian cells instead of chicken eggs. There are also special, higher-dose formulations for older adults, such as Fluad Quad for those 65 and older, and Fluzone High-Dose Quadrivalent for those 60 and over.

Your health-care provider will discuss the best option for you.

Is it free?

Under the National Immunisation Program, the flu vaccine is free for:

• children aged six months to under five years
• pregnant women
• adults aged 65 and over
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from six months of age
• people with certain medical conditions, such as heart disease or with weakened immunity.

Everyone else can pay about A$20–30 at GPs or pharmacies. If your GP does not bulk bill, you may also need to pay an out-of-pocket cost for the consultation.

Currently, Queensland is the only state offering free flu vaccination to all ages over six months. But that program ends on September 30.

So what’s the verdict?

The bottom line is that it’s not too late to get vaccinated. Even as winter eases, getting a flu shot can make a real difference, protecting both you and the people around you from serious illness.

Correction: An earlier version of the article contained out-of-date statistics from AusVaxSafety about the flu vaccine, and implied flu vaccines made in chicken eggs were unsafe for people with egg allergies, which is not the case.

Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of South Australia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

If you’re looking on social media for information and experiences of giving birth at home, you’ll find widely varied content.

On the one hand, you’ll find women who develop a relationship with their midwife over time and eventually have a “home birth” where they feel comfortable and safe.

Others choose to birth outside the medical system in a “free birth”. They might birth at home but feel compelled to forgo specialist skills and equipment.

While free births and home births sound similar, they come with very different potential risks.

What is a home birth?

Planned home births involve care from registered midwives. They care for women through the pregnancy, support them to give birth at home and continue this care for around six weeks following the birth.

Registered midwives either work privately or are employed by a hospital to provide home births.

Around 20 publicly funded home birth programs operate nationally for low-risk women who don’t live far from the hospital. Most set a maximum distance (time or kilometres) from the hospital so women can get there quickly if they need medical care or in an emergency.

Private midwives work for themselves and charge for care before, during and after a home birth. Women are able to get some money back from Medicare or through some private health funds.

Midwives are highly skilled and carry resuscitation equipment and medications to deal with emergencies, for instance, if the baby isn’t breathing or the mother is bleeding heavily.

What is a free birth?

When a woman chooses to have a free birth they make the decision to have a baby, usually at home, without a registered health professional such as a midwife or doctor in attendance. These are also called unassisted or wild births.

Those who plan a free birth may hire an unregulated birth worker or doula to support them at the birth. But they don’t have the training, regulation or medical equipment and skills needed to manage emergencies.

Women may have limited or no antenatal health care, so risk factors such as twins and breech presentations (the baby coming bottom first) aren’t detected beforehand and given the right kind of specialist care.

Free birth isn’t the same as when a baby comes too fast to make it to hospital. This is called being “born before arrival”.

How common are home births and free births?

In 2023, 97% of women give birth in hospital. Of these, three-quarters birthed in a public hospital; the rest went private.

A small proportion of women gave birth out of hospital, including in birth centres (1.5%), at home (0.7%), or in other settings (such as being before arrival at a hospital) (0.7%).

There was a slight increase in the number of home births in recent years, from 923 (0.3%) in 2019 to 2,081 (0.7%) in 2023.

It’s unclear how common free birth is, as data is not collected. But there is some evidence free births increased during the COVID pandemic and this trend has continued.

Are home births safe?

The research shows that for women with low-risk pregnancies, planned home births attended by competent midwives (with links to hospitals) are safe.

Private midwives are required to book a woman into the nearby hospital and share information with the hospital at the start of a pregnancy in case medical care is needed at any time.

Midwives across Australia follow national referral guidelines and safety and quality guidelines from the Nursing and Midwifery Board about when to consult or refer women for medical care. Around 12-35% of women who plan to give birth at home will be transferred to hospital. Some midwives can continue to care for women who need extra medical support in hospital.

Women with risk factors are recommended to not give birth at home as there is a greater chance of needing extra medical care for her or her baby. Risk factors include being pregnant with twins, having a baby in a breech position, or having high blood pressure.

For low-risk women and their babies, there is no difference in the risk of death between planned home and hospital births.

However, compared with hospital births, women who plan to give birth at home have a lower chance of having an episiotomy (a surgical cut to the perineum), a perineal tear, significant blood loss, or an infection. They are less likely to be induced, have a caesarean section, or have a forceps or vacuum delivery.

Women who have a home birth more often report positive experiences than in hospitals and tend to make the same choice for the next birth. A home birth can also be healing for women who have experienced a traumatic birth.

Why would a woman choose to have a free birth?

The main reason women choose to free birth is a previous traumatic birth or feeling coerced to make certain choices, such as being induced or having an episiotomy or caesarean section.

Sometimes, women can’t access a midwife to attend them at home. For others, the cost is prohibitive.

Others are motivated by a strong belief in their own capacity to give birth without professional support, with social media influencers impacting these decisions.

The risks of free birth are primarily are due to not having a trained midwife in attendance and the lack of skills to detect complications and transfer to a hospital, or to manage complications at home.

If you choose to birth at home, it’s important to have a registered midwife supporting you during labour to make this option as safe as possible.

Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery, Associate Dean Research and HDR, Midwifery Discipline Leader, Western Sydney University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.