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Doctors have issued a warning that “previously very fit and well children” are getting “very, very poorly” with a new dangerous flu strain. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has called on parents to give their children the flu vaccine nasal spray. It comes after the NHS issued an “urgent SOS” warning that the virus is on the rise. Forecasts looking at how virulent the current strain is suggests Britain is about to be hit by the worst flu season on record. Dr Helen Stewart, RCPCH officer for health improvement, said: "This year it's looking like a particularly bad season - rates of flu are much higher at this point than they were at this point last year. "And we know that there's been some changes to the flu virus circulating, which means that people might be more susceptible to infection. So it's just really important that everyone gets vaccinated, because it's looking like it's going to be a bad year. "Unfortunately, it's not just the elderly and people with chronic, long-term health conditions that get flu, it can make previously very fit and well children very, very poorly.” Dr Stewart added: "Unfortunately, it can kill. Children do die every year from flu, so it is definitely not just a bad cold. The main complications that we see are pneumonia, so a severe chest infection needing breathing support, and that can tip over into sepsis and very extreme cases. I've seen some very, very sick children going to intensive care with flu." UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) estimates show that deaths from flu in England stood at 7,757 last winter compared to 3,555 the year before. Child deaths involving flu also increased from 34 to 53. It comes after the head of the NHS warned Britain could face its worst flu season on record this winter. Data from Australia - which is six months ahead of the UK with its flu season - shows infections reached the highest levels since records began in 2001 while schools have closed in Japan due to a flu epidemic. Australia and Japan have both been hit hard by flu because the main new strain, called H3N2, has mutated to better escape immunity from previous vaccines. This is because it has mutated to be particularly aggressive. Jabs still offer significant protection - and often prevent serious illness - but less so than previous years. Speaking last week, Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England, said: "Australia has just endured its worst flu season on record - over 410,000 cases - and all the signs suggest the NHS will face similar challenges in the months ahead. From December through to March, our hospitals will be at capacity." Some 13.3 million flu vaccines have been administered so far this autumn in England but a significant proportion of eligible groups such as over-65s remain unprotected. Latest data shows two out of five care home residents remain unvaccinated. Parents are being reminded to complete their child’s vaccination consent forms to schools, or to book an appointment for 2 to 3-year-olds, to ensure their child gets protected against flu ahead of the Christmas holidays. Dr Stewart, who is one of the country’s top emergency care doctors, said it is easy for parents to not consent to the flu spray without realising it. She said: "Embarrassingly, that happened to me last year. I missed the email [from school]. As someone who is extremely pro-vaccination, I missed the email. So it's really easy to do for busy parents to miss that consent." She added: "Thousands of kids need to go to hospital because they have flu every year. We're really keen that everybody gets flu vaccines. It's not just it's protecting them as well, protecting those around them - so a young child getting vaccinated could protect their elderly relatives that they come into contact with." "No parent wants to have to take their child to hospital and be sat in a busy waiting room for ages, and the more young people that we can protect and prevent from having to do that, the better.”
