Children under five are the fastest rising group to be admitted to hospital or into intensive care suffering from flu, health bosses have revealed.
The Government body responsible for health protection is urging people to get their flu jab, as more calls to NHS 111 and a rise in people seeking help from their GP for flu-like symptoms indicate that the flu season might have arrived early this year. The UK Health Security Agency ( UKHSA ) - the body that replaced Public Health England last year - said Covid restrictions over the past two winters means people have little natural immunity.
And although overall flu levels are still at a relatively low level, the latest data suggests hospital and intensive admissions for the respiratory disease are rising quickest in children under five, reports Wales Online
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Dr Mary Ramsay, director of public health programmes at the UKHSA, said: “Our latest data shows early signs of the threat we expected to face from flu this season. We’re urging parents in particular not to be caught out as rates of hospitalisations and ICU admissions are currently rising fastest in children under five. This will be a concern for many parents and carers of young children, and we urge them to take up the offer of vaccination for eligible children as soon as possible.”
This year’s flu jab is a good match for the type of seasonal flu (H3N2) that is circulating this year. In 2017/2018, the H3N2 flu strain led to a bad UK flu season, with around 20,000 deaths and 40,000 hospital admissions, although it is difficult to predict how big the wave will be this year while overall flu levels are still low.
Around 33 million people in England are eligible for a free flu vaccine this year, including all primary-age and some secondary-age children, who will be offered the nasal spray. Those eligible for the flu jab are:
- People aged 50 and over;
- Anyone aged six months to 49 with a specified health condition
- Secondary school-aged children focusing on Years 7, 8 and 9 with any remaining vaccine offered to Years 10 and 11
- Primary school-aged children
- Pregnant women
- Those in care homes
- Frontline health and social care staff
- Carers and the household
- Contacts of people with weakened immune systems.
These people can get a jab from their GP surgery or pharmacies offering an NHS vaccine service. GPs are also inviting children aged two and three years old (as of August 31) for the nasal spray vaccine.
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