With a dinner arranged for nine family members – including his older parents – that evening, he saw a doctor who prescribed him antibiotics, but Phillips deteriorated rapidly that evening while with family.
“Out of the people in my family, I infected seven,” he said.
Glenn Phillips (right), with wife Sonya (left), and parents Neryl and Max (centre). Credit: Glenn Phillips
Brown said one of the biggest mistakes people visiting her pharmacy made was underestimating the illness, and equating the flu with the common cold.
“If you get influenza, you truly know it’s influenza, and it’s not a cold … even healthy adults and children, it can really knock them about,” Brown said.
Phillips said his father was in hospital twice in a three-week period, becoming disoriented due to his high body temperature and developing “brain fog”, which still affects the now 79-year-old.
“It’s difficult to live with the fact that I did that,” Phillips said.
“It didn’t just stop with my family … I gave it to my sister-in-law, and she went back down and gave it to her very ill husband,” he said.
Glenn Phillips said his parents were in and out of hospital across three-week period as they battled severe flu symptoms in 2023.Credit: Glenn Phillips
Phillips experienced debilitating back pain that “made it difficult to move”, as well as respiratory symptoms, fever and chills.
Carroll said almost 200 people died from influenza A in 2024 in Queensland, including 39 people aged between 30 and 65.
“Flu strains constantly evolve, and people’s immunity reduces over time, so they need to be vaccinated every year to be protected against current circulating strains,” Carroll said.
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Queensland Health opened its free vaccine program from March 1.
Brown estimated her Arana Hills pharmacy had administered about 1000 vaccines since the season began.
“It’s all about convenience … it’s free, we’re accessible, you can come in seven days a week and get it, and it’s literally 15 minutes out of your day.”
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