Flu Vaccine To Be Offered To All Children

All children are to be offered the flu vaccine each winter in a significant shift in UK immunisation policy.

Up to nine million children would be eligible for a new nasal spray vaccine, which has just been licensed by the medical regulators.

Until now, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has only recommended that children with underlying health conditions have the jab.

Scientists have previously said healthy children are unlikely to become severely ill with seasonal flu and that they develop long-lasting immunity from the disease.

But experts on the JCVI say children spread the disease to more vulnerable people, such as the elderly, and have concluded universal vaccination is now worthwhile.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has accepted the recommendation.

Calculations suggest that even if just a third of children are vaccinated, flu cases across the country would drop by 40%. That would mean 11,000 fewer hospital admissions and 2,000 fewer deaths.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies said: "Severe winter flu and its complications can make people really ill and can kill, particularly those who are weak and frail which is why we already offer vaccinations to the most at-risk groups.

"We accept the advice of our expert committee that rolling out a wider programme could further protect children. With even a modest take-up helping to protect our most vulnerable."

The £100m a year programme will start "no earlier" than 2014, according to the Department of Health. The large number of doses, all delivered in a period of four to six weeks, means the manufacturer needs time to scale up production.

Scientists say the new nasal spray vaccine gives children much better protection than the traditional jab.

Professor of Vaccinology at Oxford University, Sarah Gilbert, explained that it contains a live flu virus that has been altered so it can not cause a full-blown infection, but still triggers a robust immune response.

"The virus is cold adapted, so it only replicates in the nose, where temperatures are 34 degrees. It can't survive in the lungs, where temperatures are slightly higher.

"So you do infect children, but they don't get the disease."

However, she warned there is a small risk that children could spread the virus from their nose. They may have to stay away from elderly relatives for a few days after vaccination.