Cantabrians are being hit with a double whammy of swine flu and seasonal influenza as GPs don masks and gowns to stave off infection.
Canterbury virologist Dr Lance Jennings said the influenza season had "kicked in", with many cases of swine flu and the two strains of seasonal influenza being picked up.
Every year an average 400 people nationwide die from influenza.
It was likely, with the combination of the more contagious and nasty swine flu with seasonal influenza, that this year's total could be higher, Jennings said.
It was likely elective surgery would have to be postponed if too many hospital staff became unwell, he said.
Elective surgery in Canterbury was cancelled for three weeks in 1996 when the region struggled with a particularly nasty bout of influenza, Jennings said.
People with swine flu were contagious for up to two days before showing symptoms so health workers unknowingly be exposed, he said.http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch/2524969/Virus-rampant-in-Canterbury
