Five-year-old Jaxson Hall's symptoms began with a full body rash and high temperatures.

Key points: There have already been 139 deaths from influenza this year

There have already been 139 deaths from influenza this year 57,761 people have been formally identified as infected with the flu this year

57,761 people have been formally identified as infected with the flu this year The are new flu vaccines used overseas, including a nasal spray, that are not yet available in Australia

"I went into panic mode," his mother Emi Hall told 7.30.

"I definitely thought it was something more than a reaction or a viral infection."

When his condition deteriorated and he was admitted to hospital, a flu test confirmed he had influenza-A.

Neither Ms Hall or her son had the flu vaccination this year.

"I had had it when I was pregnant with Jaxson in 2013 and I never had it again," she said.

Emi Hall and son Jaxson, who is still recovering from the flu. ( ABC News: Carrington Clarke )

"But now I'm kicking myself. Now I believe it's something I should got done sooner for the both of us. Maybe he wouldn't have got as bad as he got.

"I didn't give it a thought it could be this serious."

Flu season started earlier than normal

As the number of deaths from flu continues to rise in unprecedented numbers, the nation's chief medical officer Professor Brendan Murphy has told 7.30 that "vaccine availability is very good in Australia".

There have already been 139 deaths from influenza and 57,761 people have been formally identified as infected with flu — that is three times the average for this time of year.

While the majority of those killed are elderly, a three-year-old, an 11-year-old and a 15-year-old have also been fatally struck down by the virus.

The flu season is yet to officially begin. It runs from June through September.

"It's no more virulent or nasty, it's just started earlier than normal," Professor Murphy told 7.30.

"You can't predict anything with flu, whether it will be an early season ... we don't know quite what the size of the season by the end of it will be."

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt told 7.30 he has written to vaccine manufacturers requesting they produce additional flu vaccines to meet unprecedented market demand.

It is not clear who will make extra vaccines.

The main flu vaccine manufacturer for Australia, Seqirus, told 7.30 that "manufacture for the season has concluded and supply of vaccine to the market continues, with all of the remaining doses for the 2019 season allocated to pre-season orders".

Flu testing trial

Flu season has not even officially begun yet. ( ABC News: Kym Agius )

Dr Sanjaya Senanayake, one of Australia's leading infectious disease experts, told 7.30 influenza "has the potential to be very dangerous".

"This year could go two ways. One possibility about the upcoming winter season, when flu is normally at its worst, is that we've had so many cases through this part of the year it might actually be a mild winter with regard to flu," he said.

"On the other hand, however, it might continue to escalate."

Normally it can take 24 to 48 hours for a flu diagnosis to be confirmed from a laboratory, but the Western Sydney Local Health District is trialling a 30 minute rapid flu testing machine at aged care facilities around their region.

"In half an hour they can say it's flu A or B, have a discussion with the family," Dr Shopna Bag said.

Stopping outbreaks in communal living facilities such as aged care homes is critical.

Dr Bag believes a quicker diagnosis means medical decisions about medications and treatment — as well as isolating the sick — can occur sooner, reducing distress for aged care residents and their families and potentially saving lives.

New treatments not available in Australia

The World Health Organisations has told 7.30 that in the US and Europe there are new vaccines and delivery methods not available yet in Australia.

"So for instance in the UK, live attenuated vaccine delivered as a nasal spray has become available and is offered to school aged children in a nationwide program," Professor Kanta Subbarao, director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Melbourne, said.

"In the United States there's an activated vaccine that's an injection, as well as live attenuated vaccine that's a nasal spray."

Chief medical officer Professor Murphy told 7.30 it was difficult at this stage to recommend one vaccine over the other.

"There's no super vaccine, there's lots of varieties of vaccine. Some have some value over others. We're very keen to look at all options to improve our vaccine effectiveness," he said.

"So the nasal vaccine is an interesting vaccine that we'd be quite interested in having. The company involved hasn't yet sought to make a southern hemisphere vaccine. If it were available it's something we'd consider."

The Federal Health Department has already released 12 million doses of vaccine.

Seven million will be given free to groups at risk, such as anyone aged over 65 or under five, Indigenous people or women who are pregnant.