Health experts are sounding the alarm: this winter could bring a dangerous surge of not one, but three viral threats.

Symptoms are already sweeping through communities, hospitals are beginning to fill, and the healthcare system is bracing for a potential overload.

The highest risks lie with families that include young children, the elderly, or those who haven’t kept up with vaccinations.
According to experts, time is not on our side — and waiting until the last minute could be a serious mistake.

It has now been confirmed that over 80,000 cases of influenza have already been reported in Australia, where health authorities are urgently warning about the rapid spread of influenza, COVID-19, and RSV all at once.

Professor Paul Griffin explained: “When one person in the household gets sick, the virus can sweep through everyone within days. The more we empower families to detect symptoms early, the better we can protect the vulnerable.”

At the same time, a highly contagious strain of the Omicron variant — LP.8.1 — is triggering concern among epidemiologists. After driving outbreaks in Europe, it’s now spreading quickly across Australia.

Though not necessarily more severe in symptoms, this new variant is significantly more infectious — and with fewer people getting booster shots, population immunity is waning.