NHS 'SOS' ALERT ON CHILD FLU

Healthy kids at risk as Britain braces for new mutated virus, warns top doc

- BY MARTIN BAGOT Health Editor

DOCTORS have issued a warning that previously fit and well children could be struck down and made “very, very poorly” by a dangerous flu strain.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is urging parents to give their children the flu vaccine nasal spray.

Forecasts suggest Britain is about to be hit by the worst flu season on record.

Dr Helen Stewart, of the RCPCH, said: “This year it’s looking like a particularly bad season - rates of flu are much higher at this point than they were last year.

“And we know that there's been some changes to the flu virus circulating, which means that people might be more susceptible to infection.

“So it’s just really important that everyone gets vaccinated, because it’s looking like it’s going to be a bad year.”