Flu PANDEMIC: UK & Europe now braced for even WORSE fatal outbreak to come
BRITAIN and Europe was hit by its worst flu outbreak for years this winter – but it’s set to get worse.
By Douglas Patient
DailyStar.co.uk
7th February 2018
The number of people to have died after contracting flu in the UK this winter is the highest in decades – and is currently over 200.
Tragic boy, nine-year-old Coby Simons, is believed to have become the youngest to die from the latest terrifying outbreak.
The nationwide outbreak is of sinister influenza A and B strains, including the potent “Aussie flu” and highly contagious “Japanese flu”.
Now experts warn it could be about to get even worse because of plummeting levels of people getting the vaccination in Europe.
Levels among the most at risk groups has fallen steadily in the last seven years, a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has found.
At risk groups include people above 65-years-old, pregnant, and those with medical conditions such as asthma.
Half of the countries in Europe also report a decrease in the number of vaccine doses available between 2008 and 2015.
Low uptake of the seasonal flu vaccination in Europe reduces the capacity of being able to protect people during annual epidemics and the next pandemic, it has been warned.
“Vaccination is the most effective measure to prevent severe disease caused by influenza,” Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe said.
“However, according to our research, influenza vaccination uptake has been steadily declining in a number of countries in the European Region.”
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