Seasonal Flu Vaccination What You Need to Know to Protect: Your Patients Your Colleagues Your Family Yourself Advice for Healthcare Workers
This leaflet is for NHS staff to help them advise patients and colleagues about the seasonal flu vaccine. It is important that health professionals protect themselves, their family members and their patients by having the flu vaccine. What is seasonal flu? Seasonal flu is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It occurs every year, usually in the winter. The most likely viruses can be identified in advance and vaccines are then produced that closely match them. Vaccination is available to help protect people who are more at risk. What harm can seasonal flu do? For fit and healthy people seasonal flu can range from having symptoms similar to a cold to developing more serious illnesses such as bronchitis and pneumonia, which may need hospital treatment. If people already have a serious disease, flu can be much worse. People sometimes think a bad cold is the flu, but having flu is often much worse than a cold: symptoms include fever, chills, headache, aching muscles, cough and sore throat. And because flu is a virus, antibiotics won t treat it. Some people are more susceptible to the effects of seasonal flu. For them it can increase the risk of more serious illnesses such as bronchitis and pneumonia, or can make existing conditions worse. In the worst cases, seasonal flu can result in a stay in hospital, or even death. How is swine flu (H1N1) different from seasonal flu? Swine flu is a relatively new virus first identified in 2009 in Mexico to which very few people had immunity hence why the World Health Organisation declared a pandemic. It occurred at a time of the year when seasonal flu wasn t around, and affected more people than seasonal flu. Swine flu may occur in the future at the same time as seasonal flu and may be the circulating strain this winter.
What is the difference between a monovalent and trivalent vaccine? The monovalent vaccine refers to a vaccine that contains only one type of vaccine e.g. the H1N1 swine flu vaccine was a monovalent vaccine. A trivalent vaccine is a vaccine that contains three type of vaccine in one like the seasonal flu vaccine. Who should have the vaccination? Anyone who has: Heart problems Chest complaints or breathing difficulties including bronchitis and emphysema Kidney disease Liver disease Diabetes Lowered immunity due to disease or treatment (such as steroid medication or cancer treatment) Had a stroke or a transient ischaemic attack (TIA) A neurological condition, e.g. multiple sclerosis (MS) or cerebral palsy A problem with, or the removal of, your spleen, e.g. sickle cell disease.
People should also have the seasonal flu vaccination if they are: Aged 65 years or over Live in a residential or nursing home Are the main carer for an older or disabled person Health and social care workers should also be immunised Pregnant women are for the first time now eligible to have the seasonal influenza vaccination. Why immunise health and social care workers? Immunising health and social care workers aims to reduce the spread of influenza (flu) in health and social care settings. This helps to: Protect patients and service users, including vulnerable patients who may not respond well to their own immunisation Protect other health and social care staff, and Make sure health and social care services are effective and efficient. Poultry Workers Poultry workers are also being offered the vaccine. This is a precautionary public health measure to reduce the risk of poultry workers contracting both avian and human influenza simultaneously. Please note however that whilst the seasonal flu protects against human influenza it does not protect against catching avian influenza.
Why are pregnant women being offered this vaccine when they don t normally get offered seasonal flu vaccines? Pregnant women have not routinely been offered seasonal influenza vaccine in the past unless they were in a clinical risk group. However, there is good evidence that all pregnant women are at increased risk from complications if they contract the H1N1 swine influenza virus. In light of this, pregnant women in clinical risk groups will continue to be offered the seasonal influenza vaccine as usual. But in addition, those pregnant women who are not in a clinical risk group and who have not already received a dose of H1N1 swine influenza vaccine will also be offered the trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine once it becomes available. In the meantime, all pregnant women should continue to be offered the monovalent H1N1 swine influenza vaccine. Please Note: There are no reported problems from giving either vaccine to pregnant women. Can the flu vaccine be given to a child at the same time as other vaccinations? Yes, the seasonal flu vaccine can be given at the same time as the routine childhood vaccines and at the same time as pneumococcal vaccine. The vaccination should be delayed if the child has a fever, but it can be given if they have a minor illness such as a cold. Is there anyone who shouldn t have the vaccination? Most people can have the vaccine, but people should not be vaccinated if they have had a serious allergy to the vaccine in the past, or if they have a serious allergy to hens eggs. There is a monovalent H1N1 vaccine for those who have a documented anaphylactic reaction to eggs but not a trivalent seasonal flu vaccine. If they have a fever, it is best to delay the vaccination.
What does the seasonal flu vaccine contain? The seasonal flu vaccine for this winter contains three different types of vaccination for the different starins of the flu virus that international experts think will be circulating this winter: H1N1 (swine flu), H3N2 (Perth strain) and type B (Brisbane strain). What are the side effects of the vaccine? The seasonal flu vaccine is very safe. Some people get a slight temperature and aching muscles for a couple of days afterwards, and your arm may feel a bit sore where you were injected. Sore arms are a particulary common side effect of the monovalent vaccination. Any other side effects are rare. Side effects of the vaccination are minor compared with the risks associated with seasonal flu. The vaccine does not contain any live viruses, so it cannot give you flu. For more information about the vaccine please visit http://www.mhra.gov.uk/index.htm or the Department of Health Immunisation website http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/publichealth/immunisation/index.htm which includes access to an online version of the Green Book.
Will the seasonal flu vaccine give 100% protection? Most people who have the seasonal flu vaccination will not get seasonal flu. However, like any vaccine, it does not give 100 per cent protection. Out of every 100 people who have the vaccine, 70 to 80 will be protected, while the others are more likely to get milder symptoms. If you remain at increased risk of seasonal flu in the future, you should have the seasonal flu vaccination every year. Because the viruses change every year, the seasonal flu that is around this year will be sufficiently different from last year s to make people ill even if they had the vaccination last year. New vaccines are produced each year because they need to be changed to match the latest version of the virus in order to best protect you. The seasonal flu vaccine will not protect against the common cold or other winter illnesses. I had the swine flu vaccination do you still need a seasonal flu vaccination this year as well? Yes. The reason for this is because the flu virus is unpredictable. Hence the seasonal flu vaccine contains vaccine against three different strains of the flu virus. Experts think that H1N1 (swine flu) will be the main circulating strain this winter but other strains may emerge so you should take up the offer of the seasonal flu vaccination do not rely on the monovalent swine flu vaccination providing you with cover this winter. If someone has had swine flu do they still need to have the seasonal flu vaccine? Yes. The reson for this is unless you had a swab and laboratory confirmation you may not have had H1N1 swine flu-other viruses could have caused similar symptoms. Also, as per the previous question, the seasonal flu vaccine contains three vaccine strains and because of the unpredictable nature of the flu virus you are increasing your chances of being protected this winter.
What percentage of people have the seasonal flu vaccine? The uptake of seasonal influenza vaccine in those aged 65 years and over reached 72.4%. This was only slightly lower than in recent years and the World Health Organization target of 75%. For those in clinical risk groups aged under 65 years, seasonal influenza vaccine uptake increased from 47.1% in 2008/09 to 51.6% in 2009/10. This continues the steady improvement in vaccination of this group. What percentage of people had the swine flu vaccination? Provisional uptake for H1N1 swine influenza vaccine for those in clinical risk groups aged 65 and over was 40.4%, and was 35.1% for those aged under 65 (data to the end of week 12 of calendar year). For healthcare workers this year, seasonal influenza vaccine uptake increased from 16.5% last year to 26.4%; the swine influenza vaccine uptake was 40.4%). For more advice and information visit: www.nhs.uk Produced by NHS West Midlands (2010)