PEOPLE are being urged to get the flu jab as a strain dubbed “Japanese flu” is feared to be spreading among kids.
Three types of flu are rife in the UK, according to health officials – among them deadly “Aussie flu”.
Of 124 flu tests carried out by Public Health England so far this winter, 56 were positive for the H3N2 “Aussie strain”, while 43 detected swine flu and 21 identified a strain of influenza B, known as “Japanese flu”.
Strains of influenza B are most likely to affect “super spreader” kids, they warned.
But parents can still protect their little ones, by ensuring they have received the flu jab.
“The nasal spray vaccine, given to children who are the group most likely to be affected by flu B, does protect against both B strains,” a PHE spokeswoman told The Sun Online.
“And it will also provide some indirect protection to other parts of the population.
“The vaccine remains the best defence against the virus.”
So far this winter, less than half of eligible kids have had the jab, with just 44.4 per cent of eight to nine-year-olds vaccinated.
“Japanese flu” is a B strain of flu, so less aggressive than “Aussie flu” or swine flu, which are both A strains. But, while the symptoms are likely to be less severe, it can spread faster.
‘Japanese flu’ is a strain of influenza B, which can be more dangerous to kidsWhile the standard adult flu jab doesn’t protect against “Japanese flu”, the quadrivalent vaccine does offer protection against the bug.
Each year the World Health Organisation recommends which flu strains should be included in the yearly jab.
The standard jab protects against three strains – swine flu (H1N1), a cousin of “Aussie flu” (H3N2) and a B strain.
Meanwhile, another jab also available, protects against a fourth type, another B strain – Yamagata or Phuket flu, also known as “Japanese flu”.
The PHE spokeswoman said: “Early indications are that the influenza B/Yamagata lineage is circulating, which is contained in the quadrivalent but not the trivalent (standard) 2017/18 vaccine.”
She added that the “so-called Aussie flu, (H3N2) and H1N1 (swine flu) viruses which we have seen circulating are well matched so far” to the vaccines.
“It’s not too late to get vaccinated and we urge all eligible, especially those in at-risk groups that include people aged 65 years or over, pregnant women, and those with certain chronic conditions, to take up the offer of the vaccine,” the spokeswoman said.
Professor Robert Dingwall, a flu expert at Nottingham Trent University, warned we are seeing a rise in cases of B strains, including “Japanese flu”.
“Every flu season we see virulent strains circulating, with one that tends to be dominant,” he told The Sun Online.
“In parts of Europe we’re seeing influenza B, which is covered in the vaccine.”
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It comes as another leading flu expert, Prof John Oxford, from Queen Mary University in London warned the “double-whammy” of kids returning to school after Christmas and an epidemic in France means “now is the danger period”.
He told The Sun: “Common sense will tell you that with large numbers travelling backwards and forwards from France, we may see more cases.
“And kids are very good at picking up infections from each other and then passing them on at home.
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“It’s not the best situation to have simultaneously.”
In France, the Ministry of Health issued an alert, warning “the influenza epidemic is of an exceptional magnitude, by the number of cases, which risks exceeding those of the last two years”.