Urgent vaccination call as 'mutant' flu is set to sweep UK

PEOPLE are being urged to get vaccinated against the flu after a new mutated variant of the virus, capable of evading the human immune system, saw “flu season” start a month early in the UK.

- NEIL SHAW

Experts say the new strain could mean the country has the worst flu season for a decade.

Professor Nicola Lewis, director of the World Influenza Centre at the Francis Crick Institute, told the BBC: “We haven't seen a virus like this for a while, these dynamics are unusual. It does concern me, absolutely. I’m not panicking, but am worried.”

Experts say there was a sudden mutation in the flu virus detected in June this year, with seven new mutations in the H3N2 variant.

Professor Derek Smith, director of the Centre for Pathogen Evolution at the University of Cambridge, told the BBC: “It almost certainly will sweep the world.”

Cases of flu started to surge in the UK in September, with experts saying it appears the mutations make the new strain easier to catch and spread. The rise in the number of flu cases has started early in a number of countries - including the UK and Japan.

How easily the virus spreads will be seen as people spend more time indoors this winter.

Prof Lewis said: “I think it’s going to be a strong flu season.”