The three winter bugs facing Australians — and how to tell which you have

But they could be symptoms of more serious illnesses currently circulating.The Australian Centre for Disease Control (ACDC) tracks data on a range of communicable diseases and publishes fortnightly reports on respiratory virus cases during the winter months.So far, there have been nearly 35,000 notified cases of influenza in Australia this year, 41,000 COVID-19 cases, and more than 52,000 RSV cases That's exactly what's happening," Esterman says."One of the big issues over the COVID-19 pandemic, and since then, has been very poor communication."Professor Kristine Macartney, director of the Australian National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, told SBS News in May that vaccination rates were slipping and many Australians underestimated the risks.Only 60 per cent of adults aged over 65 and a quarter of children aged between six months and five years were vaccinated for influenza last year, she says."Influenza can cause serious illness, it can result in hospitalisation, it can result in death