People across New Zealand are falling sick with a range of respiratory illnesses and the cocktail of viruses currently in the air may be making things worse.

One GP said she was seeing people get “nasty bugs” back to back which is preventing quick recoveries.

This year’s influenza season is predicted to be “severe” and the latest flu vaccine will be soon rolled out across the country, with eligible people able to access it for free.

Meanwhile, the SARS-CoV2 Covid virus, common cold viruses such as rhinovirus and adenovirus, and RSV are all currently circulating the country.

So how can you keep yourself safe and cough-free?

The Herald spoke to GP and medical director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre Dr Nikki Turner to find out.

What do we know about the new flu variant?

The influenza A subclade K variant first made its way to New Zealand in late August, Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science (PHF) senior science leader of virology Sue Huang said.

Huang said the variant was strong because it developed small mutations and our population’s immunity against it was not optimal enough.

That meant it was able to dodge people’s immune defences and become a dominant virus that extended last year’s flu season.

In 2025, more than two-thirds of the Influenza A H3N2 viruses in New Zealand were variant K clade, PHF Science showed.

Huang said the flu vaccine was the most effective intervention against the flu.

She said this year’s Southern Hemisphere flu vaccine would be “matched well against the current and expected strains” and was updated with the influenza A virus subtypes H1N1 and H3N2 strains.

The 2026 flu season is yet to properly start in New Zealand.

Two-hundred-and-fifty-five positive cases of the flu had been identified so far by labs this year, the most recent weekly virology report from PHF Science showed.

Comparatively, 1713 non-influenza respiratory virus cases had been identified over the same period of time.

If New Zealand had a severe flu season this year, it could mean a high level of hospitalisations and deaths, particularly for vulnerable populations, Huang said.

How can you protect yourself?

Turner said there were “no magic cures” for respiratory illnesses and the best bet is to stick to the basics.

She recommended getting a decent amount of sleep, avoiding smoking and vaping, and stepping into the sun to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D.

Having good nutrition was “hugely important”.

That included consuming fresh fruits and vegetables, limiting your carbohydrate intake, avoiding trans fats in processed foods and managing your weight.

Staying home when sick, wearing masks and social distancing all greatly helped curb the spread of respiratory illnesses, she said.

“It breaks my heart to see people who have respiratory illnesses going out and about and spreading them.”

Turner had noticed people were “fed up with Covid” which caused them to lose the good habits they learned about preventing the spread of viruses.

That being said, Turner felt most patients were “supportive” people who wanted to have “good sensible conversations” about protecting themselves and their families.

She explained that the severity of illness was dependent on the virus as well as the strength of people’s immune system, their recent exposure history and how much of the virus they were exposed to.

They could still feel very sick if they had a common cold, especially if they had back-to-back exposure to the many rhinoviruses that cause it.

Turner said the flu vaccine would protect people from severe cases of the flu, as well as reducing their risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The vaccine generally costs between $25 and $40 for those not eligible for free vaccination, and an updated vaccine is released in New Zealand every year on April 1.

Turner said the flu vaccine was an annual, one-off, inexpensive cost which evidence showed was cheaper than the cost of getting sick.

Antibiotics would not work on most respiratory illnesses because they are viruses.

For workplaces that were experiencing waves of respiratory sickness, Turner said the best course of action was to let people work from home if they had symptoms.

If working from home was not possible, Turner said employers should increase the air circulation in the office and consider investing in ventilation machines.

She said workplaces should practise social distancing with employees who were mildly unwell, keep hand sanitiser all around the office and encourage mask-wearing for those with worse symptoms.

Preventing the spread of illness within a household could be difficult.

Turner recommended starting by identifying who was most vulnerable in the house - such as elderly people and babies - and trying to protect them.

Maintaining social distancing, keeping good hand hygiene and opening windows were all effective strategies to use at home.

“My message for all of us is that we need a bit of a social contract here.

“Viruses are not an individual issue; they are a community issue.”

Janhavi Gosavi is a Wellington-based journalist for the New Zealand Herald who covers news in the capital.