Flu jab is a waste of time for 97% of patients

The flu jab will protect just three per cent of patients this winter, health experts warned last night.

They say the virus that causes the illness has mutated so much that it no longer ‘matches’ the current vaccine, which was only developed a year ago. The 3 per cent figure predicted by experts at Public Health England would be the worst in at least a decade.

The NHS spends around £100million each year on the flu vaccination programme, with each jab costing £7.60. Although it is never totally effective, it usually protects around 60 per cent of patients. Last night questions were being asked about why health officials did not raise the alarm earlier.

Researchers at Public Health England assessed the effectiveness of the jab by looking at saliva samples from 1,314 patients with flu.They found that only 3 per cent had the H3N2 strain of the virus, the remainder had a mutated form.

Yesterday experts blamed flu for a sudden spike in death rates – particularly among the elderly, even though most have the jab every year for free on the NHS.

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that just over 25,300 over-65s died in the last two weeks until January 23, a rise of 40 per cent compared to the previous year.

The death toll attributed to flu by the spring is now predicted to be the worst since 1999/2000, though latest NHS figures suggest the season has passed its peak.

Millions of patients have the flu jab every year including certain ‘at risk’ groups such as the elderly, pregnant woman, those with underlying illnesses such as asthma and health workers who get it for free. In addition, other individuals pay for it privately or receive it from their employers.

The problem has come about because the vaccine started being developed in February last year, nine months before the flu season typically gets under way in November.

It is made up of a tiny amount of the strain of the virus that experts predict will be the most dominant – this year it is H3N2. This is enough to kick-start the patient’s immune system to develop a resistance to the virus.

But this year, the virus has mutated so it no longer matches the vaccine and the majority of patients aren’t protected. Experts say the vaccine will still protect against two other strains of flu that could emerge later this year.

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