IT'S been a strange and long flu season for the region, health experts say.
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To date, there have been more than 7000 confirmed cases of influenza in Hunter New England.
That compares to about 800 last year, which was deemed a mild flu season. In 2017, Hunter New England also saw about 7000 cases in a year. That was regarded as one of the worst flu seasons on record.
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Hunter New England Health public health physician David Durrheim said it was too early to say if the flu season was over.
"It's been a strange flu season that started in summer and continued on from there," Dr Durrheim said.
"On the east coast of Australia, the flu season started two months earlier than normal. You typically see it take off and really persist throughout winter.
"There are a large number of lab confirmed cases noted. The numbers suggested that it may be tailing off, but it's too early to say if it is over."
The flu vaccine "works best for three to four months", so anyone who got vaccinated early in the season "may not be fully protected".
"That's obviously not ideal with this long flu season, so it's best not to spread the last of it around," Dr Durrheim said.
"I would encourage anyone who has respiratory illness, a fever, cough or aches and pains to stay home and not spread it to high-risk places.
"This time of the year, usually we see it come to end and we're hoping that's the case."
The lingering flu season isn't the region's only health concern - a severe bout of gastro has been making its way through several Tamworth schools and workplaces. Dr Durrheim said the outbreak of gastro was most likely due to norovirus.
"That's usually the cause of winter-spring gastro," he said.
"The most common way to catch it is by not washing your hands, and coming into contact with contaminated food or other people's hands. You only need a small number of viruses to spread."