The storm of influenza, pneumonia, colds and other germs circulating this winter drove a massive surge in the number of Australians taking sick leave.

Payroll data from business management platform MYOB shows sick, carers, and personal leave among employees of small businesses soared in August to more than 38 per cent above the pre-COVID baseline and 14.3 percentage points higher than in August last year.

In NSW, sick leave was 41 per cent higher than the baseline but still lower than in Victoria, which was 51 per cent (including carers and personal leave, which are often used as a proxy with sickness given the majority is taken by workers caring for children or other dependents).

In Queensland and Tasmania, sick leave was up 40 per cent, in Western Australia it was up 39 per cent, in the ACT it was up 37 per cent, in South Australia by 35 per cent, and the Northern Territory by 30 per cent.

Flu season came early this year and brought with it high rates of other respiratory infections, including RSV, mycoplasma pneumonia and COVID-19.

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Influenza infections peaked at the end of July with over 17,000 positive tests reported in one week in NSW, and continued to circulate at high levels into August before slowly coming down.

The combination of circulating bacterial and viral infections spreading through the community meant people were at a higher risk of back-to-back infections, doctors warned in June.

Meanwhile, flu vaccination rates were alarmingly low this year, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has warned.