Brits urged to get their flu jabs as soon as possible as new mutated flu strain hits the UK
Pensioners and vulnerable people are being urged to get their flu jabs as soon as possible.
Everyone who is eligible for the annual vaccinations is contacted by their GP surgery, asking them to come down for an appointment where they receive their jab.
This year, the NHS has made it clear that the country could be facing its harshest flu season in years, after a mutated strain appeared over the summer.
A common seasonal strain of flu, H3N2, mutated after this year’s flu jab had been developed - meaning that not only has flu season started early in 2025, but the flu strain itself could cause more severe illnesses.
Flu viruses constantly mutate, which is why the vaccine has to be updated every year. But this year has seen a big shift in strain mutation, rather than the usual gradual change.
Speaking to BBC News, Professor Nicola Lewis, the director of the World Influenza Centre at the Francis Crick Institute, said: “We haven't seen a virus like this for a while, these dynamics are unusual.
“It does concern me - I’m not panicking, but I am worried.”
The flu jab will still help the body to recognise the virus and fight it off, but will likely only reduce how severe the illness is rather than stopping the infection outright.
Australia’s record-breaking flu season this year has already sparked concern, although the strain there was different from the one spreading now in the UK.
Also interviewed by the BBC, Professor Christophe Fraser from Oxford’s Pandemic Sciences Institute added: “It's highly likely it's going to be a bad flu season and it's going to happen quite soon, we're already well into it.
“There are indicators that this could be worse than some of the flu seasons we've seen in the last 10 years.”