Hygiene important for Ekka visitors

Ekka visitors are being urged to practice good hygiene after more than 4000 Queenslanders fell ill with the flu in the past week.

There have already been 19,216 people across the state struck down since January.

With the Ekka public holiday coming days after the highest weekly total of flu cases in the past five years, Queensland Health is urging people to take precautions, particularly at events.

Infectious diseases advisor Dr Christopher Coulter has encouraged people to practice cough etiquette, which he said was "coughing into tissues, sneezing into tissues and disposing of those tissues properly".

"We have seen quite a significant increase in the number of influenza cases," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"It's actually higher than some of our most recent years."

Of those struck down, about 75 per cent had contracted the more severe influenza A strain.

Flu season generally peaks after the Ekka public holiday and sometimes as late as September.

But already 2,145 people have been admitted to public hospitals, with 222 needing intensive care.

Dr Coulter said sick people should stay home and he urged people to have a flu vaccination.

"For some people in high risk categories influenza can be deadly so it's crucial we all play our part to help stop it spreading and reduce its effects on the community," he said.