Think of the common cold as a cat and the flu as a tiger.
Flu has killed at least as many people as the Black Death. It is a cunning virus that affects a wide-range of species and that can cross the species barrier.
What is flu?
Every year flu kills the sick, the vulnerable and occasionally the healthy. That is why we have the UK-wide national campaigns to vaccinate the elderly and those with known risk factors.
However, it has to be remembered that in every flu season, everyone can be affected and in some seasons one age-group more than another.
Vaccinations
Each year WHO receive information from collaborating laboratories as to which flu viruses are circulating. Based on this WHO advises the vaccine manufacturers as to which 3 strains it should put into the vaccine. In any one year the efficacy of the flu vaccine will vary in relation to how good a match the vaccine components are to the circulating disease. However, the overall efficacy of the vaccine is good.
more >>
The injected vaccine is the killed vaccine. There are no live components so it cannot cause flu.
Workers
The Chief Medical Officer has made recommendations that as many health and social care workers as possible get vaccinated with the killed vaccine. He also recommends that businesses consider flu vaccinations for their staff.
Certification Number EO10000521
