PEOPLE in Wales are being urged to 'Beat Flu' by getting vaccinated against the virus, and by encouraging family and friends to get protected too.

The annual NHS Wales flu vaccination campaign aims to ensure that the people who need it most get protection each year against the flu.

This includes everyone aged 65 and over, people with certain chronic long term health conditions, and pregnant women.

NHS and social care staff, carers, volunteers providing care, and Community First Responders, are also entitled to the vaccine, and the programme is being extended this year for children - those between the ages of two and six years are eligible.

For those NHS and social care staff, the vaccine is available through their employers, and uptake among this group is seen as particularly important given their key roles.

In Gwent as elsewhere, the aim is always to get protected as many as possible of those who are eligible to receive the flu vaccine on the NHS.

Just over 70 per cent of people in Gwent aged 65 and over received the flu vaccine in 2013/14, the second highest uptake in Wales, while 53.5 per cent of those aged under 65 but deemed at risk due to an underlying health condition received it, the highest uptake in Wales.

Figures for 2014/15 are not available, but the indications were that uptake was due to be on a par with that for the previous year.

Wales-wide, flu vaccine uptake has increased during the past decade, particularly among those in 'at risk' groups, though more recently, the rate has levelled out.

Launching the new Beat Flu campaign, deputy health minister Vaughan Gething AM, said: “Flu can be a life-threatening illness for people who are at risk because of their age, because they have an underlying health problem or because they are pregnant. Sadly, it kills people every year.

“People can also pledge to beat flu by reminding eligible relatives and friends to get their flu vaccine this autumn. We run this programme every year to make sure people don’t fall seriously ill with flu, especially as it can be prevented so quickly and simply."

For more information on flu, visit www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/888/page/43745

* At risk groups include those with: A chronic heart condition; a chronic chest complaint, including asthma which requires regular medication; chronic kidney disease; chronic liver disease; a chronic neurological condition; diabetes; lowered immunity due to disease or treatment such as steroid medication, or cancer treatment.