Researchers Win $8.3m Grant To Predict And Prevent Influenza

The University of Auckland-led project plans to develop a tool to predict the risk and mitigate the effect of flu and other respiratory illness.

Every year, influenza kills around 500 New Zealanders and causes misery and income loss for many more, which is why a research programme has been granted $8.3 million for the next three years.

The University of Auckland-led project, a collaboration with the University of Otago and other local research partners, communities and health providers, plans to develop a tool to predict the risk and mitigate the effect of flu and other respiratory illness.

Approximately one in five New Zealanders experience a respiratory illness, making it the third leading cause of death in the country. In 2019, respiratory illnesses were responsible for 3,118 fatalities, according to the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation.

The tool would help individuals, clinicians, communities and policymakers put steps in place to reduce the risk of illness and prevent outbreaks of respiratory illnesses.

Called the ‘Flu and other respiratory infections: Risk, Resilience and Response (Triple R) programme,’ this newly funded three-year project will particularly focus on equity outcomes for important populations, such as older people and children, Māori communities and Pacific communities.

It builds on the SHIVERS (Southern Hemisphere Influenza, Vaccine Effectiveness, Research and Surveillance) programmes, which have studied the patterns of influenza and other respiratory illnesses since 2012, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. Find out more.

Starting in early 2025, the Triple R project will be led by Professor Nikki Turner, principal medical advisor with the Immunisation Advisory Centre (IMAC), at the University of Auckland.

“Through SHIVERS V (2022 to 2024) we learnt a lot about respiratory illness, the changing patterns through the COVID-19 pandemic, and changing community awareness and responsiveness to respiratory illness,” Turner says.

“We are taking these learnings and will use them to support communities and the health sector to take action to be prepared, to better understand, respond to and mitigate the impact of flu, in particular, but also respiratory illnesses in general on their health and the health of their whānau and communities,” Turner says.

“A risk, resilience and response approach will develop tools that can be used by individuals and communities in their own environments to reduce the impact of severe illness.”

The first task will be to develop and test a ‘risk and resilience’ measure that allows individuals and families to quantify their specific risk of contracting flu and respiratory illnesses.

The second task will be to support higher-risk individuals and communities to utilise this measure and associated tools to take their own actions to reduce the impact of respiratory illness.

The key players of the research so far have been the University of Auckland, University of Otago, Counties Manukau and the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR).

ESR has also been successful in securing new funding over a four-year period and will call their new project SHIVERS-VI.

The Triple R project is funded by Flu Lab. Through grants and investments, Flu Lab supports efforts to advance innovative solutions to persistent problems in preventing and treating influenza.

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