New “Super-K” Flu Strain Puts Australia’s 2.8 Million Asthma Sufferers On High Alert

Australia’s peak asthma body is urging the country’s 2.8 million asthma sufferers to get vaccinated without delay, warning that a fast-moving new influenza strain called “Super-K” is already circulating ahead of what could be a punishing winter respiratory season.

The National Asthma Council used World Asthma Day, Tuesday 5 May, to sound the alarm, with Clinical Associate Professor Debbie Rigby, Clinical Executive Lead at the Council, describing the emerging strain as a serious threat for anyone living with the chronic lung condition.

“The National Asthma Council Australia is recommending that people with asthma get a flu shot to provide the best possible protection before the peak winter season from June to September,” said Rigby

“The risk of catching a respiratory virus increases during winter as people spend more time together indoors and if you have asthma, any of these viruses can cause a cold, which has the potential to develop into an asthma flare-up.”

“Seniors who have asthma are already at greater risk of more severe respiratory viral disease, so they are particularly vulnerable,” she said.

The warning carries weight. At least 80% of asthma flare-ups are triggered by viral infections, making this winter’s flu vaccine one of the most consequential preventive steps an asthma patient can take.

Associate Professor Rigby is also calling on patients to book an asthma check-up now, before the cold weather tightens its grip, to review their personal asthma action plan while there is still time to act.

Critically, she flagged sweeping changes to the national asthma management guidelines in the latest edition of the Australian Asthma Handbook that many patients may not yet know about.

“It is best to take a proactive approach now and schedule an asthma check-up with your doctor to review your asthma action plan.”

“Asthma management guidelines have changed in the latest update of the National Asthma Council’s Australian Asthma Handbook, and it is essential that adults and adolescents with asthma receive a correct diagnosis and receive treatment with an anti-inflammatory inhaled corticosteroid-containing regimen.”

“The new guidelines also recommend that most children with asthma should use inhaled corticosteroids that treat the underlying inflammation, not just a blue puffer that only relieves symptoms,”

“This will help airways to be less inflamed and sensitive, which helps to resist the effects of viral infections that can trigger serious asthma flares,” said Associate Professor Rigby.

The Council outlined five practical steps asthma patients should take heading into winter.

This World Asthma Day, people with asthma can help to better manage their asthma by:

• Having annual asthma check-ups
  
  
• Following your personal written asthma action plan developed together with your doctor
  
  
• Using your medicines wisely — tell your doctor if you have been using your blue reliever
  puffer more than two days a week or are having asthma symptoms at night
  
  
• If you have been prescribed a maintenance preventer, make sure you use it – even if you feel
  well
  
  
• Check with your GP, pharmacist or nurse that you are using your puffer or inhaler device
  correctly or view the National Asthma Council’s ‘how-to’ videos online.

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released in late 2025, 478 Australians died from asthma in 2024, with women dying from the condition at twice the rate of men.

In the same period, there were around 32,000 hospitalisations where asthma was the principal cause in 2023-24, with almost half involving children aged 14 or under. Ninety per cent of those admissions were considered potentially avoidable with better community-level care.

Emergency department presentations are trending down but remain substantial. Asthma-related ED presentations fell from 285 per 100,000 in 2017-18 to 220 per 100,000 in 2024-25, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s national asthma indicators, published in early 2026.

The financial burden is significant. An estimated $1.3 billion was spent on asthma in 2023-24, representing 22 per cent of all respiratory condition expenditure. The broader economic cost, factoring in lost productivity and premature death, sits at $24.7 billion.

World Asthma Day is an initiative of the Global Initiative for Asthma. The theme for 2026 is “Access to anti-inflammatory inhalers for everyone with asthma – still an urgent need.”