Who should be protected?

If you are in any of the ‘at risk’ groups, you should get a flu vaccination. It is the best way to protect yourself and your family. The 2010-11 seasonal flu vaccination includes protection against the H1N1 strain of flu. H1N1 is the same strain of flu behind the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

You are recommended to have the vaccine if you are within one of the following Department of Health, 2011 ‘at risk’ groups:

• everyone aged 65 or over
• all those aged six months or over in a 'clinical risk' group
• pregnant women
• living in long-stay resitantial care homes or other long-stay care facilities
• those in receipt of a carer's allowance, or who are a main carer of an elderly or disabled person
• health and social care staff directly involved in patient care
• To view the full list of 'clinical risk' groups click here.

Protect against the flu

• Flu makes you feel a lot worse than having an ordinary cold
• Flu is highly contagious. You may pass it on to other more vulnerable members of your family such as babies, young children and older people
• Flu may suddenly worsen an underlying chronic condition like asthma or heart disease
• Flu can leave you open to other complications like bronchitis or pneumonia

While very young children are more likely to catch flu than adults, because they have little immunity from past infections, flu does not normally lead to other problems for otherwise healthy children and flu vaccination is not recommended.

Prevent spread of infection

It is important to try and stop flu viruses spreading.  Everyone should practise good hygiene, such as sneezing and coughing into tissues, washing hands and hard surfaces frequently, keeping away from crowded places, if possible, to avoid passing the infection on will also limit spread.

To find out more information about flu vaccination click here or to check whether you should have a flu vaccination click here.