Get flu jab to help counter major outbreak

The number of people presenting to general practice and hospital Accident and Emergency Departments continues to increase significantly week by week.

In addition to this, the strain of flu this year is more severe than normal, this means that the number of people who are catching it is greater than most years, the symptoms are more severe and the complications such as chest infections, pneumonia and even rarely fatalities are more common than an average year.

General Practice will have limited stocks of flu vaccine left and are being asked by the Medical Director of the NHS to use these stocks to vaccinate the eligible patients within the next two weeks.

Those who are most at risk include:

* All those who are aged 65 or more

* People with Diabetes

* Respiratory disease - those with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

* People with chronic kidney disease

* Heart disease and strokes - those who have heart failure, had an heart attack or have suffered a stroke.

* Pregnant women

* Carers

Dr Nigel Watson, chief executive, Wessex Local Medical Committee, which covers Dorset, said: “It is alarming that more than three million people in these at risk groups have not yet been vaccinated yet could clearly benefit.

“The vaccination is easy to administer and has few side effects, some have a slightly sore arm for a couple of days and occasionally feel slightly rough for a day or two but the benefits far outweigh and risks. For fit, healthy people flu can be a nasty infection with a number of people getting complications and occasional fatalities. At its worse it can be devastating; more people died in 1918 of Spanish flu than died in battle during the whole of the First World War. Flu vaccine is the best protection we have against an unpredictable virus that can cause unpleasant illness in children and severe illness and death among at-risk groups.”