#1 Victorian uni for graduate employment1
#1 in the world for sport science2
#1 Victorian uni for course satisfaction3
NEXT UP ON this.
If you’re reading this between May and September in Australia, it’s flu season. Unlike other kinds of unofficial seasons– like festive, football and wedding seasons – there’s no question that flu season brings far less joy and makes us all a bit socially avoidant. If you were unlucky enough to catch the flu during last year’s record-breaking season, you’ll likely be nodding your head in fierce agreement.
This year (and every year), it’s worth doing all we can to avoid getting the flu. But between rampant health misinformation dominating online discourse and warnings about low vaccine uptake, it’s hard to know what to believe and what to do about the flu. This is where we defer to the experts – like Deakin graduate researcher Rifqa Fayaz. We sat down with Fayaz to get answers to all of your flu questions.
Firstly, let’s start with the big flu question: what exactly is the flu, anyway?
As Fayaz explains, the flu is an upper respiratory infection caused by the influenza virus, which has four main strains: A, B, C, and D.
‘You can think of it like cars,’ Fayaz says. ‘Influenza A, B, C and D are like different car makes. Within each make, there are different models with different features which can also vary from year to year. Similarly, yearly changes in the features of the flu strain can affect how easily they spread and how sick they make people – which is also the reason why we need to update the influenza vaccination annually.’
2025 saw 502,972 confirmed cases of the flu in Australia, including 1738 deaths. While severe disease and death is a very real risk for some groups (like pregnant women, the very young and very old), most of us will experience a milder (but still incredibly uncomfortable) set of flu symptoms like a sore throat, high fever, cough and body aches or fatigue.
For anyone who ends up contracting the flu, Fayaz says that the incubation period (‘which is the time between exposure and symptom onset’) is two days, but that ‘most healthy people fully recover from the virus within 7-14 days.’
Like the flu, the common cold shows up seasonally, with the winter months being the most affected. This leads us to our next common cold and flu question: what’s the difference between a cold and flu?
‘While both cause upper respiratory infections, they are both triggered by completely different viruses,’ Fayaz says. ‘Unlike the flu, the common cold can be caused by one of many viruses. The most common culprit is the rhinovirus.’
One of the most-asked flu questions that crops up each year is about spread and prevention. How does the flu virus spread, and how can each of us try to stop that spread?
‘The influenza virus mainly spreads through respiratory droplets released when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks,’ Fayaz says. ‘It can also spread when these droplets land on surfaces and a person touches the surface, then their eyes, nose or mouth.’
And considering the flu poses a serious health risk to those in vulnerable categories, it’s always best to avoid sharing it around.
‘To prevent the spread, stay at home when you are sick and avoid close contact with people,’ says Fayaz. ‘Covering sneezes and coughs and washing hands regularly also greatly helps.’
We’ve already mentioned that there is a regular, yearly flu season. So why is the flu more common in winter? The answer to this flu question has to do with the way our behaviours shift when the cool season settles in.
‘Flu is more common in colder months because people tend to spend more time indoors, making it easier for the virus to spread between one another,’ she says. ‘The dry and less humid winter air also causes the influenza virus to survive and transmit better.’
Although the flu is much more common in the cool months, it doesn’t just disappear in summer and spring – meaning it’s still important to do those things Fayaz mentioned to stop the spread, like washing hands, covering coughs and staying home when sick.
We already know that it can take 7-14 days to recover from the flu, but that might be little consolation for anyone feeling poorly.
So, what are the best flu remedies to help us on the road to recovery? As Fayaz explains, there is actually one clear answer to this flu question – but it might not be a realistic option for everyone.
‘Technically, the flu can be treated with flu-specific antiviral drugs, but they need to be taken within 48 hours of symptom onset, during which many people may not even realise they have the flu,’ Fayaz says.
Beyond those antiviral drugs, Fayaz says there are at least a few ways flu sufferers can feel a little better while they recover.
‘Treatment usually focuses on recovery and managing symptoms, such as bed rest, drinking fluids to prevent dehydration and using sore throat lozenges to help soothe the throat.’
For some of us, getting the flu is an uncomfortable inconvenience – but it can be a serious health threat to others. With genuine risks involved, it’s wise to pay attention to experts like Fayaz when they answer these common flu questions. That way we can all reduce the risks of the flu – and make sure that the yearly flu season never hits the heights of 2025.
With that in mind, here are a few final pieces of flu-related advice from Rifqa Fayaz:
‘Stay at home when you are sick and avoid close contact with people,’ she says. ‘And, finally, get the seasonal influenza vaccine, which greatly helps alleviate disease severity and limits the likelihood of person-to-person transmission.’
