This winter could see a considerable increase in people being admitted to hospital with flu, with parents being urged to get their children vaccinated as soon as possible.

In November this year, 97 people with flu were admitted to Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital in Stafford. In the same month last year it was seven.

There are particular concerns about more children needing protection as they are “super-spreaders”, picking up infections at school or nursery and spreading them at home, potentially to more vulnerable relatives.

Dr Paddy Hannigan who leads the vaccination programme in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent said: “This flu season has certainly hit harder than it has done in the recent past and we knew that it probably would.

“COVID lockdowns have kept the number of flu cases artificially low in the last two winters, and although it’s too early to draw conclusions, at this stage we are seeing more cases now than we did in the last couple of pre-COVID winters.

“We have also seen higher cases of flu in Australia during their winter and that is always a good indicator of how hard it is going to hit here.”

There has also been a fall in the number of pre-school age children being protected. Children of this age receive vaccination via a nasal spray.

Dr Hannigan said: “There is a significant reduction compared to last year, with immunisation rates down almost 14 per cent with two-year-olds and 10 per cent with three-year-olds.

“We really need to see this reversed especially with Christmas coming up – it is a time of year when we can often find four generations mixing in the same household and generally more mixing going on than we see at other times of year.

“We are also seeing more children being taken to Emergency Departments and being admitted to hospital with breathing conditions which is another worry.

“I really would urge anyone who is eligible to get free protection against flu this winter with many pharmacies offering flu vaccinations for adults without having to book an appointment with your GP.

“The number of adults getting vaccinated is down slightly, but from a historic high, so I’d like to thank everyone who is playing their part.”

Dr Hannigan added: “We also need to be getting as many people vaccinated against COVID also as it is still circulating in the community and there are concerns about a ‘twindemic” with flu and COVID joining up – it is possible to have flu and COVID at the same time which has the potential to be more serious.” The NHS website has more information about flu vaccination for adults and for children, and who is eligible for COVID vaccinations including their fourth booster.

Watch the video below in which Dr Paddy Hannigan informs us about the importance of taking your flu jab this winter.

ENDS