Regular immunisation is recommended for people who:
are 65 or over,
are living in an old peoples home or nursing home,
are the main carer for an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill,
are over 6 months old and have a chronic condition such as a heart problem, asthma, kidney disease or diabetes,
have a lowered immune system due to disease or treatment such as steroid medication or cancer treatment,
have chronic liver disease, or
work in close contact with poultry – for example, working in areas where poultry are kept for rearing or egg production, handling or catching live poultry, sorting eggs in poultry houses, or slaughtering and cleaning poultry.
The vaccine is available free of charge to these people.
Vaccination should be done in the autumn (October / early November) by injection. Anti-flu vaccines, against recent types of A and B virus, are available and are roughly 75% effective. If you have been vaccinated and get flu, it tends to be a much less serious strain of the disease.
The NHS has targets for the number of people receiving flu injections and the Department of Health measures uptake figures on an annual basis. For those aged 65 or over, the target is 70% and, in recent years, this has been exceeded.
