Flu is an unpredictable virus that can cause mild illness in most people.
However, it can cause severe illness and even death among vulnerable groups of people, including disabled people, people with a long term health condition, elderly people, pregnant women and people with an underlying health condition.
As we approach Winter, the NHS have published helpful details on who should have a flu vaccine.
Certain people are more likely to develop potentially serious complications of flu, such as bronchitis and pneumonia. these people are advised to have a flu vaccine each year.
For otherwise healthy people, flu can be very unpleasant, however most people will recover from flu within a week or two.
However, if you are otherwise healthy but come in to contact with people vulnerable to the flu virus, the you should have a flu vaccine.
People who should have a flu vaccine
The injected flu vaccine is offered free of charge on the NHS to people who are at risk. This is to help protect them against catching flu and developing serious complications.
You should have the flu vaccine if you:
- are 65 years of age or over
- are pregnant
- have certain medical conditions
- are living in a long-stay residential care home or other long-stay care facility
- receive a carer’s allowance, or you are the main carer for an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if you fall ill.
Frontline health and social care workers are also eligible to receive the flu vaccine. It is your employer’s responsibility to arrange and pay for this vaccine.
Flu vaccine for people with medical conditions
The injected flu vaccine is offered free of charge on the NHS to anyone with a serious long-term health condition, including:
- chronic (long-term) respiratory diseases, such as asthma (which requires an inhaled or tablet steroid treatment, or has led to hospital admission in the past), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema or bronchitis
- chronic heart disease, such as heart failure
- chronic kidney disease
- chronic liver disease, such as hepatitis
- chronic neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease or multiple sclerosis (MS)
- diabetes
- problems with your spleen – for example, sickle cell disease or if you have had your spleen removed
- a weakened immune system as the result of conditions such as HIV and AIDS, or medication such as steroid tablets or chemotherapy
- being seriously overweight (BMI of 40 or above)
This list of conditions isn’t definitive. It’s always an issue of clinical judgement.
Your GP can assess you to take into account the risk of flu making any underlying illness you may have worse, as well as your risk of serious illness from flu itself.
The vaccine should always be offered in such cases, even if you are not technically in one of the risk groups above.
If you live with someone who has a weakened immune system, you may also be advised to have a flu vaccine. Speak to your GP or pharmacist about this.
Flu vaccine for health and social care workers
Outbreaks of flu can occur in health and social care settings, and, because flu is so contagious, staff, patients and residents are all at risk of infection.
If you’re a frontline health and social care worker, you are eligible for an NHS flu vaccine to protect yourself, your colleagues and other members of the community.
It is your employer’s responsibility to arrange vaccination for you. So, if you are an NHS-employed frontline healthcare worker, the NHS will pay for your vaccination. If you are a social care worker, your employer should pay for vaccination.
In the case of health and social care workers employed by private companies, those companies will arrange and pay for the vaccinations.
The NHS has this advice on flu vaccination of health and social care workers PDF.
Flu vaccine for carers
If you are the main carer for someone who is elderly or disabled, speak to your GP or pharmacist about having a flu vaccine along with the person you care for.
Read more about the flu vaccine for carers on the Carers UK website.
There is much more information on the other groups of people who should also be having a flu vaccine, such as pregnant women, children and people aged over 65 on the NHS website, in their Who should have a flu vaccine? article.
