Vaccination drop ahead of flu season worries Britain

Specialists in Great Britain are worried about the decreasing vaccination among the population on the eve of the winter season.

Fewer people got the flu shot last year and if the trend continues, Britain could be in for a worse winter, health officials have warned.

According to the UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA), there have been at least 18,000 flu-related deaths in England over the past few years, despite relatively mild flu seasons.

Free flu shots are offered each year by the National Health Service (NHS) to people most at risk of contracting the disease, also known as influenza.

Although vaccination rates among older people in England remained high last year, only one in three pregnant women got vaccinated. Among people with long-term health problems, four in ten people had been vaccinated, compared with five in ten the previous year.

For toddlers, between two and three years of age, the vaccination covers just over four out of every ten children.

The report follows health authorities' fears of a "triple epidemic" of flu, Covid and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the BBC reported.

People can contract these common viruses all year round, but the flu is especially common in the winter.

Most people make a full recovery, but the flu can be serious and even deadly.

Some years are worse than others in terms of deaths. During the 2017-2018 season, 22,500 people died from influenza infection. | BGNES