The Leeds Road Practice

FLU VACCINATION – PATIENT NOTICE

Important news about this year’s flu vaccination campaign!

Influenza is a highly infectious respiratory illness which is extremely debilitating and can cause death, particularly in at risk groups.  That is why it is so important for those at risk to have the annual vaccination to protect themselves and to lessen the possibility of passing the virus on to others. This year there has been a major development in the nature of the flu vaccination.  There are different types of flu virus.  People who get flu mainly get it from either one of 2 strains of A type virus or one of two strains of B type virus.  In previous years the formulation of the vaccine has protected against the 2 most common A types but only one of the B type.  This is known as a trivalent vaccine.  The World Health Organisation (WHO) has had to predict which type of B strain will be the most common in the coming year.  SOMETIMES THEY HAVE GOT IT WRONG!  This year, Leeds Road Practice along with most practices locally has procured Quadrivalent vaccine for every patient that is eligible to vaccination.  This protects against the two main A strains AND the two main B strains.  Most pharmacies will be offering the Trivalent vaccine, which offers upto 25% less protection so to ensure you have the best cover please ensure that you have the vaccine at the surgery.

We will be beginning our vaccination campaign towards the end of September once the manufacturer can confirm delivery. There will be plenty of advance information on when and where the clinics will be held but our Saturday Clinics will be held on the mornings of 7^th,14^th and 21^st October as usual.  If you do decide to get your vaccination elsewhere make sure that the provider has this new type of vaccine.