Dreaded flu heading towards Britain could kill as many people as the 1968 Hong Kong pandemic

The dreaded Aussie flu outbreak that the NHS is preparing for will be the worst in 50 years, experts have warned. Some A&E units in Australia had 'standing room only' after being swamped by more than 100,000 cases of the H3N2 strain.

Professor Robert Dingwall, a public health expert at Nottingham Trent University, said it is 'inevitable' it will reach Britain.


He said it could claim as many lives as the Hong Kong flu outbreak in 1968, which killed at least one million people.

Professor Dingwall told The Daily Express: 'Based on the Australian experience public health officials need to meet and urgently review emergency planning procedures.

'Public Health England should be working with local authorities and local health services to ensure more hospital beds are freed up. We need to be prepared, alert and flexible.

'There is no point in trying to close the borders. It’s almost inevitable this will come to us.

'This is potentially the worst winter since the Hong Kong flu outbreak of 1968.

'Lots of people have been very badly affected in Australia and whilst their mortality rates are not out yet we suspect this is a more severe strain than most other years.'