Good hygiene
Flu is a very infectious virus. It spreads easily through coughs and sneezes. To help prevent catching and spreading flu, you can:
- wash your hands with warm water and soap regularly
- clean the most used surfaces in your home, such as door handles, keyboards and screens
- cover your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze. Try to use disposable tissues and throw them in the bin as soon as you or your child have used them. You can also cough and sneeze into the bend of your elbow.
If you have flu
You’re more likely to give flu to other people in the first five days of your infection.
Try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if you have a high temperature or do not feel well enough to do everyday activities. If you're unable to stay at home, you could wear a face covering or mask when you go out.
Flu vaccines
Most people with asthma and a lung condition can get a free flu vaccine. You can get a free flu vaccine if you have:
- alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency
- asthma (if you use a steroid preventer inhaler or take steroid tablets)
- bronchiectasis
- bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and emphysema
- cystic fibrosis
- interstitial lung disease, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), sarcoidosis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis or pneumoconiosis
- pulmonary hypertension.
You can also get a free flu vaccine if you’ve had a lung transplant or are getting certain cancer treatments.
If you’re the main carer for somebody with a lung condition, you should be able to get a free flu vaccine too.
If you live in England, Scotland and Wales and are over 65, you're also able to get a free flu vaccine. In Northern Ireland you can get a free vaccine if you're over 50.
Speak to your GP, nurse or pharmacist if you’re not sure whether you’re eligible for a free flu vaccine.
If you cannot get a free flu vaccine
You can pay to get one from a pharmacy. Pharmacies charge different amounts, but it usually costs around £15. You may also want to encourage family and friends to have one too, so they can help protect themselves and others.
Children's flu vaccines
Most children can get a free flu vaccine. This includes:
- children aged 2 to 3 years old
- children aged 6 months to 17 years old with certain health conditions. This includes asthma and other lung conditions
- all school-aged children (from reception to year 11). This includes home-schooled children and children not in mainstream education.
The vaccine is usually given to children as a nasal spray, rather than an injection. However, the nasal spray is not usually recommended for:
- children who take steroid tablets, like prednisolone, for their asthma
- children who have been in intensive care because of their asthma.
If your child falls into either of these groups, they should be offered an injection instead of a nasal spray.
Find out more about flu vaccine for babies and children up to age 18.
Tell your child's GP or nurse
If your child’s asthma gets worse in the three days before their vaccination, tell their GP, nurse, or the person giving them their vaccination. They may suggest your child has an injection instead of nasal spray. They could also get their flu vaccine when they feel better.
Common questions about the flu vaccine
Sometimes people worry about getting vaccines. We’ve answered some questions that people with asthma and other lung conditions often have:
Getting a flu vaccine can make a big difference to your health in winter.
Flu is not just a bad cold, it can be a very serious illness. In a recent survey, 3 in 4 people told us that flu caused their lung condition symptoms to get worse.
If you’re living with a lung condition, you’re more at risk of becoming seriously ill from flu. Having flu can increase the chance of you having an asthma attack or a flare-up of your lung condition. You’re also at risk of getting a chest infection after having flu.
Getting your flu vaccine gives you the best protection against flu. It could also mean fewer visits to your GP or the hospital, helping you stay well and reducing the risk of the NHS coming under intense pressure during flu season.
Getting a flu vaccine may also help to protect others. It can prevent the spread of flu to friends, family and anyone you come into contact with, including those at high risk from flu.
Getting a flu vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and others around you from flu.
Flu vaccines help protect you against the main types of flu viruses around each year. Even if you get your flu jab, there’s still a chance you might get flu. But if you do catch flu after getting vaccinated, it probably will not be as bad or last as long.
It’s important to get your flu jab every year.
Flu usually begins to spread from December. It’s best to get the vaccine before the end of November to protect you before flu spreads. Flu vaccines can take up to 14 days to work.
It’s still worth getting your flu vaccine after November as flu season lasts until March.
If you’re entitled to a free flu vaccine, you can get one at your GP practice. They should send you an invite by text message, email, phone call, or letter. You can book your vaccine before you’re invited.
You can also get a flu vaccine at your local pharmacy if you’re over 18. You do not need an appointment to see a pharmacist and lots of pharmacies are open in the evenings and on weekends. Find out more about pharmacies that offer the free flu jab on the NHS website.
Getting a flu vaccine is different across the UK:
Find out how to get a flu jab in England.
Find out how to get a flu jab in Scotland.
There are different types of flu viruses, called strains. The flu strains that make you ill change every winter.
Each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) works with experts to decide which strains of flu the vaccine we need to protect against. This makes the vaccine as effective as possible.
The vaccine you’re offered changes every year, to give you the best protection against the strain that is circulating.
The flu vaccine cannot give you the flu. The injected flu vaccine does not contain any live viruses.
The nasal spray flu vaccine (usually offered to children) contains small amounts of weakened flu viruses, but they cannot give you flu.
A very small number of people with lung conditions have told us that they sometimes feel unwell after the flu vaccine and find their symptoms get worse for a short period of time. This is not reflected in the clinical evidence.
If this has happened to you in the past, speak to your healthcare professional about your concerns. You can also register any side effects using the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s Yellow Card scheme.
All flu vaccines are safe and effective. Some people get mild side effects.
After getting your vaccine, you might find you have:
- a slightly raised temperature
- achy muscles
- a sore arm where the needle went in. This is more likely to happen for people aged 65 and over.
Any side effects from flu vaccines should only last for a few days. You can rest and take paracetamol to manage side effects.
It’s safe to have the flu vaccine alongside other winter vaccines, like the COVID-19 vaccine. You might be offered them at the same time.
If you’re an older adult, you’re unlikely to be offered the RSV vaccine at the same time as your flu vaccine. This is because there is some evidence that this can make vaccines less effective.
If you’re pregnant, it’s safe to have your RSV vaccine at the same time as your flu vaccine.
It's very rare to have a serious allergic reaction to a flu vaccination. This happens to one in a million people.
Some flu vaccines are made using eggs. This means that if you have an egg allergy, you may be at risk of an allergic reaction to the flu vaccine injection. Ask your GP or pharmacist for a low-egg or egg-free vaccine.
The person who vaccinates you will be trained to deal with allergic reactions.
There are small traces of pork gelatine in the nasal spray vaccine (usually offered to children).
Speak to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist about your options if this is not suitable for you or your child. You may be able to have an injected vaccine instead. Injected flu vaccines do not contain any pork or pork products.
Find out what the Kashrut and Medicines information service and the Muslim Council of Great Britain say about the flu vaccine.
There are several different flu vaccines available each year. You’ll be offered the flu vaccine that’s right for you. Most children are offered the nasal spray flu vaccine, and most adults are offered an injected flu vaccine.
Yes. The flu vaccine helps protect you against the main types of flu viruses. It does not protect you from colds or other respiratory viruses, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or COVID-19.
Yes, it is safe for you to have the injected flu vaccine if you’re taking prednisolone. Prednisolone weakens your immune system, so you might not be able to take any vaccines that have live viruses in them. The injected flu vaccine does not contain any live viruses.
Getting your flu vaccine
Paula, a Health Care Support Worker, explains everything you need to know about getting your flu vaccine if you have a lung condition.
Every year lots of people with lung conditions catch flu and for some people, this can be bad news.
You might find that the flu causes your lung symptoms to flare up or that it triggers an asthma attack. It's important to protect yourself so you don't end up being seriously ill or needing to go to hospital.
An easy way to help protect yourself from the flu is by getting your flu vaccine and for most people with long conditions the flu vaccine is free. If you're not sure whether you're eligible for a free flu vaccine speak to your GP practice or pharmacists.
Most people get the flu vaccine without any problems however I find that some people have a few worries beforehand. Asthma + Lung UK carried out a survey and these are the most frequently asked questions from people with lung conditions about the flu vaccine.
Flu vaccines help protect you against the main types of flu viruses around each year but even if you get your flu jab there's still a chance you might get flu. If you do catch the flu after getting vaccinated it probably won't be as bad or as long. You're also less likely to pass the flu on to others. The flu vaccine does not stop people from getting other viruses, like colds or coughs.
It's important to get your flu jab every year. This is because the flu vaccine helps protect against the main types of flu viruses. Each year the type of flu virus that spreads each winter is different so the vaccine you are offered also changes every year. This gives you and others around you the best protection.
It's best to get the vaccine in autumn or early winter before the flu starts to spread. It can take 10 to 14 days for the flu vaccine to work so try to get your vaccine as soon as possible once they're available. However, flu season is long and the vaccine is available until the end of March. It's never too late to protect yourself
The main ingredient of any vaccine is a small amount of bacteria viruses or toxins that's been weakened or destroyed in a laboratory first. This means it's safe and there's no risk of healthy people catching a disease from the vaccine.
The vaccine sometimes contains other ingredients that make the vaccine safe and more effective. These can include pork gelatine and egg protein. There's no evidence that any of these ingredients cause harm when used in such small amounts.
Creating the right flu vaccine for each country each year is a global effort. There are National influenza centres in over a hundred and fourteen countries that receive and test thousands of flu virus samples from patients. All year round in February the World Health Organization makes recommendations on what flu vaccine should be made available for the upcoming winter in the northern hemisphere. This includes the UK.
It's safe to have the flu vaccine alongside other winter vaccines like the COVID-19 autumn booster vaccine and the pneumonia vaccine. In fact, you might be offered them at the same time.
People often worry about the side effects of vaccines but the flu vaccine is safe for people with lung conditions. It will not make your symptoms worse.
There are several types of injected flu vaccines. None of them contain the live virus so they cannot give you flu. The nasal spray flu vaccine which is usually given to children contains a small amount of weakened flu viruses but it does not cause flu in children.
People often get worried about feeling ill after getting their flu vaccine. Some people do have mild side effects like a sore arm a slightly raised temperature or achy muscles. If you do have any side effects they should only last for a day or so you can ask your pharmacist for advice about how to manage any side effects.
Hopefully, you'll find this video useful. If you want to know more about the flu vaccine visit Asthma + Lung UK's website or give our helpline a call.
