Experts back flu jabs extension

More than 70% of people aged 65 and over were given flu jabs last year

Offering free flu jabs to people aged 60 to 64 should be considered by the government, vaccination advisers say.

Currently in the UK, over-65s and people with health problems like diabetes, asthma or heart complaints are eligible for a free jab.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and immunisation said extending programmes was "definitely worth considering" as more over-50s were being hospitalised.

The government has said official flu guidance is unchanged.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Currently people aged 65 or over and those aged over six months with certain clinical conditions, including respiratory diseases, qualify for a free flu jab.

"The chief medical officer's recently published guidance for flu preparations next winter has not made any changes to these risk groups."

Admission rates for respiratory illness start rising sharply after 50 Dr Douglas Fleming Subgroup member

The influenza subgroup of the JCVI was told the Netherlands had extended its flu vaccination programme to include the over-60s in 2007.

It was asked to consider whether a similar extension to the UK programme "should be prioritised".

"It was thought that there is UK data to show a clear rise in hospitalisations in the over 50s and that vaccinating 60 to 64 year-olds was definitely worth considering," minutes of a meeting of the subgroup reveal.

The group said it would look at published research on the cost-effectiveness of vaccinating healthy adults aged 50 to 64 to help it determine what further work was required.

Figures for 2007/08 show that 73.5% of people aged 65 or over in England had the flu jab.

Those with serious heart and chest complaints like asthma, serious kidney or liver disease, diabetes, lowered immunity and people who have suffered a stroke are also eligible.

GPs may also recommend a jab for people who have had mini-strokes, have multiple and other degenerative conditions of the central nervous system.

Vaccine uptake data for at-risk groups aged under 65 showed an increase from 42.1% coverage in 2006/7 to 45.3% a year later.

Dr Douglas Fleming, a member of the subgroup and director of the Royal College of GPs' Birmingham research unit, said: "[Extending the programme] is worth considering.

"Admission rates for respiratory illness start rising sharply after 50."

Doubt

The committee cast doubt on the results of Health Protection Agency models which suggested vaccinating children could reduce the long-term incidence of type A influenza in the total population by up to 97%.

It queried the duration of protection and said the 60% uptake rate assumed in the study was unrealistic and that the data from the US suggested it would be closer to 20%.

With several studies ongoing, it concluded that "there was not enough robust evidence to demonstrate that the current flu vaccines were effective in young children".

The group also said that further data was needed before a judgement could be made about the cost-effectiveness of vaccinating pregnant women.