Latest news with #SunshineCoast
ABC News
3 hours ago
- General
- ABC News
Here are the current rules on isolating when you're sick this flu season
I don't know about you, but the times of having to quarantine due to COVID-19 feel like a distant memory. But around this time each year, we're reminded that the virus is still active, as are many other serious respiratory illnesses during "flu season". There have been more than 65,000 cases of COVID-19 so far this year nationwide, more than 81,000 Influenza cases and 50,000 cases of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), according to the Australian Respiratory Surveillance Report. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also designated a new strain known as NB.1.8.1, which is now the dominant variant in China and Hong Kong, as a "variant under monitoring". So, what has changed when it comes to quarantine rules? And do you still have to isolate if you or a family member has a respiratory illness? Advanced epidemiologist Anne Maree Baldwin says we're in a different situation now than five years ago when COVID-19 first arrived in Australia. "We had a new virus in a population without immunity, which was expected to have devastating impacts," says the public health expert from the Sunshine Coast/Kabi Kabi lands. "But now all or almost all of the population has some immunity to COVID through vaccination and having the disease." We are no longer required by law to quarantine or isolate when we have COVID-19. But Ms Baldwin says it is recommended. "Stay home and away from others when you have symptoms, irrespective of whether it's COVID or another respiratory illness," she says. "If you must go out, we ask people to wear a mask, avoid indoor or crowded situations, and keep away from others as best you can." Dr Libby Sander is an associate professor of organisational behaviour at Bond University on the Gold Coast/Kombumerri. She says there has been a culture shift since the pandemic back to a place where some employees feel obligated to go back to work even if they're unwell. "I'm often hearing [about instances] where people are being expected to go to work when they're sick because of staff shortages or they just feel obliged to go in because of the workload. "If you are sick, you shouldn't go to work, no-one wants you to make them sick." You can be infectious with respiratory illness from up to 48 hours before your symptoms start. So, if you've had a loved one or housemate at home who's been unwell, should you go to work? Ms Baldwin says it comes down to organisational policy. "Just communicating first and foremost, so everyone's aware," she says. "In general, quarantine isn't needed if exposed to COVID, we just ask that you stay away from others if you develop symptoms." She says it's particularly important to avoid people more likely to get severely sick, including immunocompromised people, older people, infants, and pregnant women. Dr Sander says working from home arrangements can provide people with security and flexibility. "If you're not really unwell you can keep working, you're not worrying about infecting other people … so I think flexibility is really important." In general, you don't automatically need to take a rapid antigen tests (RAT) after being around someone who's been sick. But it is recommended if you start developing symptoms or are planning on visiting a high-risk setting like aged care facilities, disability care, hospitals, or other healthcare settings. Ms Baldwin says testing is important for people who are either very sick or need antiviral medicine. "We have the RAT tests and they're widely available now in supermarkets and pharmacies, often for about $10," she says. "Some can test for four viruses, Influenza strains A and B, COVID and RSV. "The RATs are helpful for a quick result, which is important when the COVID and influenza antiviral should be started in a day or two of symptom onset." A diagnosis for whooping cough requires a PCR test (polymerase chain reaction) from a GP to receive the necessary antibiotics. Chief medical officer at Healthdirect Australia, Nirvana Luckraj, says if you have tested positive for respiratory illness, "you should stay at home until all of your acute symptoms have gone". She says acute symptoms include sneezing, coughing and a sore throat. "If you still have acute symptoms like a cough after seven days, you may still be infectious. You should continue to wear a mask and physically distance whenever possible." Our experts say it's important to prepare yourself each year. "We see COVID waves and whooping cough at any time of the year and most RSV is actually at this time of year," Ms Baldwin says. "So being prepared is important and the best way to do that is vaccinate." You can get both the COVID and influenza vaccines at the same appointment — the Australian Department of Health advises that it is safe to do this and doctors and pharmacists will now allow this. This is general information only. For personal advice, you should see a qualified medical practitioner.
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Morning Mail: Ukraine strikes Crimea bridge, Musk's ire at Trump's ‘abomination' tax bill, e-scooter injury toll revealed
Good morning. Ukraine has made another surprise strike against Russia, this time detonating an explosive under the bridge linking Russia to Crimea. In other world news, at least 27 people were killed by Israeli fire as they waited for food at a Gaza distribution point. And the world's richest man, Elon Musk, has disparaged Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill online just days after leaving the White House. Back home, Erin Patterson has been telling her side of the story in court, giving evidence in her trial for allegedly killing three people through a beef wellington lunch. Accident data | Every three days, a child injured on an e-scooter would come through the emergency department doors of Sunshine Coast university hospital, according to Dr Matthew Clanfield. Mushroom trial | Erin Patterson had been in the witness box for 142 minutes when her barrister Colin Mandy SC said: 'I'm going to ask you some questions now about mushrooms' – the closest the triple-murder accused had come to being asked directly in court about the fateful lunch of deadly beef wellingtons she served in July 2023. Justice | In 2020, tens of thousands of people defied Covid restrictions to march in support of the families of Indigenous Australians who have died in custody, as part of the global Black Lives Matter movement. Five years on, the same families face fresh grief. IT issues | Ticketek has downplayed reports of widespread problems with its online sales platform from cricket fans trying to buy tickets to the Ashes, saying multiple browsers can trigger bot protection services designed to protect customers. 'Gooning' ban | A social media account dedicated to masturbation on campus has been suspended by Meta after allegedly infringing the trademark rights of the University of Melbourne. Doge woe | Elon Musk has upped the ante in his criticism of Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful' tax and spending cuts bill, calling it a 'massive, outrageous, pork-filled … disgusting abomination' that will expand the 'already gigantic' budget deficit. Follow our US politics live blog here. Russian invasion | Ukraine has detonated a massive underwater blast targeting the key road and rail bridge connecting the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula to Russia, damaging its underwater supports. Middle East | Masked Israeli soldiers have blocked an international group of reporters from visiting Palestinian villages on the West Bank that have been under sustained attack by Jewish settlers and which were the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary film. Meanwhile, at least 27 people were killed by Israeli fire as they waited for food at a distribution point in Gaza. Netherlands | The Dutch government has collapsed after the far-right leader Geert Wilders pulled his party out of the ruling coalition in a row over immigration and asylum policy. Philanthropy | US tech mogul Bill Gates has pledged the majority of his $200bn fortune towards health and education services in Africa. Slut-shamed and bullied by students: why teachers are quitting An alarming cultural shift is happening in Australian classrooms as teachers report an increase in bullying and misogynistic and violent behaviour from their students. Education reporter Caitlin Cassidy talks to Reged Ahmad about the teachers speaking out about why they are leaving the profession Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen $ Labor is planning to double the tax on superannuation earnings to 30% but young people are not concerned about it. While critics have said the younger generation will shoulder a bigger tax burden, one 27-year-old said it would be a 'privilege'. Luca Ittimani spoke to several people in their 20s who aren't worried about potentially losing a tax concession when they're much older. A show where celebrities participate in a spelling bee does not sound like a hit show, but Guy Montgomery (above) has found success in hosting Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee. Montgomery speaks to Michelle Duff about the origins of the show during the Covid-19 pandemic and the how intense the fandom can get. Sign up to Morning Mail Our Australian morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Swimming | Swimmers (like Australian olympian James Magnussen, above right), coaches and officials who compete in or support a controversial new sports event allowing performance-enhancing drugs will be barred from elite competition, World Aquatics says. IPL final | Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Virat Kohli ended a 17-season drought by winning their maiden Indian Premier League title, beating the Punjab Kings by six runs. Soccer | Australia's rapid recovery under Tony Popovic in qualification for the 2026 World Cup has left the Socceroos on the cusp of a place in North America with two group games to play, and a direct berth could be secured as early as Friday morning. F1 | Max Verstappen has admitted that his crash into George Russell's Mercedes in the Spanish Grand Prix was 'not right and should not have happened'. Telstra has been fined for failing to provide access to emergency services for an almost 12-hour period, reports the ABC. The Sydney Morning Herald has a copy of the plan to stop 'taxi rip-offs' at Sydney airport. South Australian doctors are likely to strike over a pay dispute, per the Advertiser. Canberra | The domestic family and sexual violence commissioner, Micaela Cronin, and the Australian Law Reform Commission's president, Mordy Bromberg, will address the National Press Club. Sydney | The chair of the Climate Change Authority, Matt Kean, will deliver the Talbot oration at the Australian Museum. Enjoying the Morning Mail? Then you'll love our Afternoon Update newsletter. Sign up here to finish your day with a three-minute snapshot of the day's main news, and complete your daily news roundup. And follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland. If you would like to receive this Morning Mail update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here, or finish your day with our Afternoon Update newsletter. You can follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland. And finally, here are the Guardian's crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- General
- The Guardian
E-scooter injury toll revealed in study just ‘tip of the iceberg' in Australia, doctors warn
Every three days, a child injured on an e-scooter would come through the emergency department doors at the Sunshine Coast university hospital, according to Dr Matthew Clanfield. Between 2023 and 2024, 176 children were treated at the Queensland hospital. Some got off lucky with a scuffed knee. Others suffered life-threatening brain injuries requiring neurosurgery and psychological care. Clanfield's analysis of these injuries in under-16s treated at the hospital have been published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. It is the first data in Australia to capture paediatric e-scooter injuries, and it's 'only the tip of the iceberg', Clanfield said. Analysing paediatric ED triage notes, the ages of those injured ranged between five and 15 years old. One in 10 had life-threatening or potentially life-threatening injuries, and more than a third suffered at least one bone fracture. Based on self-reported data from the patients, at the time of the accidents, 42% of children were not wearing a helmet; 36% were exceeding the legal speed limit of 25 kilometres an hour for e-scooters on Queensland roads; and in 13% of cases two people were riding one scooter. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'We had one child who got up to 70 kilometres an hour on an e-scooter and T-boned a car,' Clanfield said. In May, the Crisafulli LNP government announced a parliamentary inquiry into e-bike and e-scooter safety, but Clanfield's study has called for 'immediate governmental action' raising the age limit to protect children and match other states. In Queensland, children aged 12 to 15 are allowed to ride e-scooters if they are supervised by an adult riding alongside them on another device. Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory are the only jurisdictions that allow 12-year-olds to legally ride e-scooters. In New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania e-scooter users must be aged at least 16. The age limit is 18 in the Northern Territory and South Australia, according to Assoc Prof Terry Slevin, the CEO of the Public Health Association of Australia. E-scooter accidents are a 'growing problem', Slevin said. But a lack of national data to identify the size of the problem and no nationally consistent rules or enforcement of those laws make it a difficult problem to solve, he said. A University of Melbourne researcher, Assoc Prof Milad Haghani, searched local news stories published between January 2020 and April 2025 to gather data on e-scooter related deaths. He identified 30 fatalities. Of those, 11 were aged under 18. Slevin said a serious problem was that children did not have a sophisticated understanding of the road rules or road safety. However, he said e-scooters were also a 'general community safety issue' because other road, footpath and cycle path users could be struck by e-scooters. Dr Sarah Whitelaw, the Australian Medical Association's federal emergency medicine representative, said the study reflected what was happening in other states and territories. Whitelaw said it was 'heartbreaking' when injured patients and their families said 'they had no idea that they could get so badly injured on an e-scooter'. 'Emergency care and trauma specialists right around Australia are increasingly concerned about the number of injuries that we're seeing with regards to children under 18,' she said. Children were 'massively over-represented' in cases of e-scooter injuries and deaths, despite e-scooters being mostly ridden by adults. Part of the problem, Whitelaw said, was that 'these devices are unfortunately marketed to kids … [and] it's not clear to parents that, in fact, in many states and territories, it's illegal to ride them outside your home on public property unless you're over 16'. She said rather than banning e-scooters, governments should improve safety laws.
ABC News
a day ago
- General
- ABC News
Cough leads Sunshine Coast woman to rare Burkitt lymphoma diagnosis
Childhood educator Jessie Stott knew something was not right when she could not shake an aggressive cough for more than three months. Ms Stott, 33, had always led an active and healthy lifestyle. The Nirimba resident, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, trained at a gym five days a week, ate a balanced diet, and had no family history of cancer. She enjoyed her job and was studying nursing. She and her high-school sweetheart partner, 37-year-old carpenter Lucas Vogelpoel, were even trying for a baby. But her persistent cough would not go away. "Doctors kept saying it was a viral infection, but then it kept getting worse," Ms Stott said. After months of pushing for answers, her doctor ordered a CT scan in March. It revealed an 80-millimetre growth on her chest — the size of an orange. She was referred to a surgeon in April but wait times were more than two months. With the growth pressing on her heart, no diagnosis, and still no real answers, Ms Stott's symptoms worsened. Then in early May, late on a Friday night, she woke up unable to breathe and with a "tingly" left arm. "I thought I was having a heart attack," Ms Stott said. She was rushed to Sunshine Coast University Hospital. After advocating for herself again while in hospital, Ms Stott received a diagnosis. It was B-cell lymphoma. Just a few weeks later she was told the mass had grown by another 20 centimetres. A biopsy confirmed it was Burkitt lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer requiring immediate and intensive chemotherapy. Burkitt lymphoma is extremely rare and known for rapidly expanding. Ms Stott has since been undergoing intensive chemotherapy. "We were booked in for an IVF cycle, which we had to forgo," Ms Stott said. Mr Vogelpoel said it was heartbreaking to give up the IVF. "But her health is more important," he said. Ms Stott has four months of exhausting treatment ahead of her, involving 21-day chemotherapy cycles with a seven-day break in between. She also has three lumbar punctures a week, where medical staff jab a needle into her spine to remove fluid, then inject her with chemotherapy. "It's very painful," Ms Stott said. General practitioner Katie Gardner, who is also clinical editor at Country to Coast Queensland, said it could be worth following up with a doctor if flu-like symptoms lasted longer than a week. "Australians generally report high satisfaction with their GPs," she said. "But if you feel your concerns aren't being heard or taken seriously, the first step is to raise them directly with your treating doctor, especially if you've noticed a pattern over time or worsening symptoms. She said people who were still concerned could ask whether further tests or a referral might be appropriate, seek a second opinion from another GP, or call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84). "You know your body best," she said. "If something doesn't feel right, it's OK to keep asking questions or request additional follow-up." Ms Stott said pushing doctors for answers saved her life. "If I didn't keep pushing I'd still be waiting for a diagnosis," she said. "Most people don't get to hospital until it's too late and their airways are closing. "People know their own bodies and if you feel like something isn't right, just keep pushing."
News.com.au
a day ago
- General
- News.com.au
Trainer David Vandyke's assessment of his star Philia is frightening for her 2025 Queensland Oaks rivals
'I would say you'll see the best of her on Saturday.' Trainer David Vandyke 's assessment of his star Philia is frightening for her Queensland Oaks rivals as the super talented filly is primed to cap a dream campaign in the Group 1 for three-year-olds over 2200m at Eagle Farm on Saturday. To be ridden by top jockey Kerrin McEvoy, Philia will be shooting for her fifth straight triumph in the major on Saturday after a meteoric rise that prompted bookmakers to install her as the $3 favourite in the Oaks. Group 1 Australasian Oaks champion Benagil ($5) is on the next line from Jenni's Meadow ($6), Churchill's Choice and Movin Out (both $8). • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! 'From the time I got her as a yearling, the plan was always to end up at the Queensland Oaks,' said Vandyke, who won the major with Gypsy Goddess three years ago. 'For this girl to go from a maiden at the start of this prep and us not really knowing to what level she could climb … it would be wonderful to win an Oaks with her. 'When she goes out for a break next week, irrespective of what happens on Saturday, it'll be a good time for reflection. 'I can sit back and look at the pedigree page, I can watch the replays and I can really appreciate what's happened during this period.' But it hasn't all been smooth sailing for Sunshine Coast trainer Vandyke, who said the daughter of All Too Hard – a half-sister to Duais, who won the 2021 Queensland Oaks for trainer Ed Cummings – could be as stubborn as a mule at times. Philia dominates Race 7 at Eagle Farm for @vandykeracing13! @KPMcEvoy — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) April 26, 2025 • 'This girl's had very little time off in 12 months and she's been difficult to train,' he said. 'She's got a very strong will and it hasn't always been focused on running. 'Even now I'll take her down to the pool for a walk and if she doesn't want to do something or she wants to go at her pace, then there has to be a compromise. 'She can get a bit resentful if she's not respected or managed well.' That stubborn attitude is why Philia, with four wins and two runner-up finishes from just six races, has an iron will to win and an ability to soak up pressure from her rivals. Those traits shone through brightly in her last-start victory in the Group 2 The Roses (2000m) on May 24 at Doomben when she was softened up in the run but still kicked on to beat the fast-finishing Jenni's Meadow and Movin Out. . @KPMcEvoy guides Philia to victory in The Roses for @vandykeracing13! — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 24, 2025 'She's the sort of horse you dream about, I couldn't be happier with her,' Vandyke said. 'With her pattern of racing, she can create the tempo. 'The other day (in The Roses) the fastest furlong was between the 1800m and the 1600m. 'She can really handle pressure and she's got that will to win when she gets taken on. 'She'll just pin the ears and keep going. I was delighted with her effort because she didn't do it easy.' Queensland Derby (2400m) and Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) to be rescheduled.
