worried parents are fearful that a flu epidemic is set to explode from today, when ten million children return to school after the Christmas holidays.
There is rising fury over the Tory-LibDem coalition government’s decision to withdraw free flu vaccination jabs on the NHS from under-fives this year, claiming that the decision was clinical and nothing to do with cuts.
Flu rates are highest among the under-fives and are still rising.
So far, the present flu outbreak has been linked to 39 deaths in Britain since October, including 11 under-15s.
There have been 738 people requiring intensive care which is four times higher than at the peak of last year’s pandemic, when the flu jab was available free on the NHS to all under-fives.
Professor John Oxford, an expert in virology at St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Hospital, said the return of children to school had in the past prompted a rise in the number of flu cases and that he fears more people will die.
‘Unfortunately I do expect there to be more fatalities with it,’ he said.
‘Even if it’s already peaked, it’s still going to be around for the next couple of weeks and it’s still worthwhile being vaccinated at this stage.
‘This virus, H1N1 is pretty special, it gets to the parts other flu viruses don’t reach,’ he added.
‘I treat it with huge caution when I’m handling it in the laboratory, it does move down easily into the respiratory tree to cause problems quickly and it is targeting the younger age group.’
Symptoms include a high fever, chesty cough, sore throat, aches, upset stomach, headache and runny nose.
Dr Douglas Fleming, director of the Royal College of General Practitioners’ Research and Surveillance Centre, warned: ‘This is an H1 virus and we know that spreads rapidly amongst children.
‘I personally don’t feel that we have quite reached the peak.’
Worried parents have been told by the Department of Health that there is ‘nothing to stop’ High Street pharmacies offering the vaccine to children on a private patient basis.
However pharmacies are refusing, saying they cannot vaccinate children because of healthcare regulations or because of their own company policies.
The pharmacies say they will administer the flu jab to adults, charging between £7.50 and £12, but company policies dictate that they cannot do so to children, even when parents are present.
