Time you 'flu' to your GP for a jab

GP Dr Zahid Chauhan

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If ever you needed a boost to go out there and get a flu vaccination, then consider this: Last winter’s jab helped 40% of adults reduce their risk of catching the virus, says Dr Zahid Chauhan, a family doctor at the Dale Medical Practice based within Nye Bevan House.

For children, new nasal inoculations meant a 66% shrink in the numbers coming down with flu.

The symptoms of a bad bout of flu – shivers, aches and pains, lethargy, a nasty chesty cough and high temperature – are enough to give anyone cold sweats. But as we may recall from previous outbreaks of strains such as Asian and Bird Flu, the condition is potentially deadly, too. Australia has endured a particularly bad epidemic recently, with six residents in a Tasmanian care home dying of flu-related symptoms.

Spread largely by coughs and sneezes, flu can affect anyone at any time. But it is more common in the winter months and for some in our society, can lead to dangerous complications, such as pneumonia.

That is why the NHS gives free inoculations to the over 65’s, young children and people with weak immune systems plus those with long-term health conditions like COPD (including asthma and emphysema). The best time to get the jab is in October, as it gives you protection throughout the winter months.

These no-cost jabs are also available to those who directly care for people with serious illnesses. This can include anyone receiving a carer's allowance or who are the main carer for an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if you fall ill.

You will be relieved to know that frontline NHS staff receive their jabs and that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has recently asked the chief medical officer to investigate ways to ensure all aged care workers are properly vaccinated.

Many NHS surgeries now run flu vaccination clinics where, in a scene reminiscent of school days past, they line-up patients and inoculate them one after the other. Increasing numbers of pharmacists, some based in supermarkets, also offer low cost injections, which take just a few minutes to complete.

If you are still wondering what the point is of taking time to get a jab, remember that getting the flu will cost you at least a week’s recuperation in bed. If you defiantly carry on working whilst fighting the flu, your exhausted body will be prone to even more dangerous infections and (unless you wash your hands constantly) you will probably pass it on to everyone else.

Antibiotics won’t cure flu, either. You are going to find that GPs and other healthcarers generally are going to be stricter about dispending them anyway – since our bodies are becoming increasingly immune to their benefits. Pain killers will alleviate symptoms though, as will plenty of water and bedrest.

If the prospect of an injection gives you the needle, there are a couple of pieces of good news coming your way. Toddlers and children can have the inoculation in the form of a nasal spray (including children aged two-17 at particular risk of flu) and the NHS is currently trialling a painless sticking plaster flu jab that delivers the vaccine into the skin.

Just a small select group of patients (including those allergic to the vaccine) may not be able to receive the inoculation.

Whatever the method you choose, make sure you are protected against flu. The figures clearly show that the vaccine is effective and that the public are getting the inoculation message.

Contact your local surgery, box off that jab and reduce your chances of suffering an unpleasant bout of the flu.