Within 1-3 days of a confirmed flu infection, you have an 8x increased risk of stroke, 10x increased risk of a cardiac event (heart attack), 8x increased risk of pneumonia.
Of the people who are diagnosed with flu, 23% will lose their independence for the duration of their infection, and for diabetic people 74% experience abnormal blood sugar events, not only is it deeply unpleasant, but flu can also become life-threatening very quickly.
Flu is an unpredictable virus. Last year, over 1,000 patients were admitted to our hospitals with the flu. As a healthcare worker, your risk of catching flu is much higher, and as 50% of infections have no symptoms at all, you could be spreading it to very sick people without knowing it.
Symptoms include a sudden onset of fever, an aching body, and feeling completely exhausted. Most people who have the flu (and not just a cold) will not even be able to get out of bed. Other symptoms include a sore throat, cough, headache, difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, diarrhoea and/or nausea.
While many people were admitted to hospital, last winter, flu vaccination still prevented up to 120,000 hospital admissions in England. For working-age adults, it reduced the risk of being admitted to hospital with flu by almost half, helping to protect individuals, maintain staffing levels and reduce pressure on NHS services at a very challenging time of year.
If you are admitted to hospital because of the flu, the average length of stay for people 75-year-old and over is more than 12 and a half days. For under 65s it is around 5 days.
Flu evolves constantly, so we need to have the flu jab each year to have the best chance of staying protected. It is our professional duty to do all we can to protect the people we care for and prevent potentially avoidable harm.
If you do catch flu, stay at home, drink plenty of fluids, rest, sleep, keep warm and take paracetamol or ibuprofen to lower your temperature and manage aches and pains – always read the label of any medication you take.
Flu vaccine ingredients
Name of vaccine: Supemtek TIVr Trivalent Influenza Vaccine.
There is only one vaccine in use at University Hospitals Birmingham this year. The vaccine contains no egg, it is cell-cultured and is therefore suitable for people who do not consume egg, or those who are allergic to egg.
This vaccine does not contain any bovine (beef) or porcine (pork) derivatives.
The vaccine contains
| Strain | Strain identifier | Amount of influenza virus haemagglutinin (HA) protein |
|---|---|---|
| A/Wisconsin/67/2022 (H1N1)pdm09-like | A/West Virginia/30/2022 | 45 micrograms HA |
| A/District of Columbia/27/2023 (H3N2)-like | A/District of Columbia/27/2023 | 45 micrograms HA |
| B/Austria/1359417/2021-like | B/Austria/1359417/2021 | 45 micrograms HA |
List of excipients: Polysorbate 20 (E432), Sodium chloride, Sodium phosphate monobasic, Sodium phosphate dibasic, Water for injections.
Detailed product information for the vaccine is available on the Electronic Medicines Compendium (eMC).