A TOP doctor has warned a strain of flu may he heading to East Lancashire - and it could kill if people don’t get vaccinated.

Dr Pervez Muzaffar said there is evidence of an unprecedented surge in cases of influenza A virus H3N2, dubbed the ‘Aussie flu’ .

Most people will recover in about a week but for the very old and young or those with pre-existing health conditions it can be deadly.

This year, Australia has seen the highest number of cases for several years and they have started earlier than the usual flu season.

And the UK usually sees the same pattern during its winter season.

It has prompted Dr Muzaffar, a GP from Darwen and a clinical lead at Blackburn with Darwen and East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Groups, to warn that people will die this year unless as many of us can be protected as possible.

He said: “Flu can kill – and it will kill people this year unless we act soon.

“The flu vaccination is the only way to prevent it from spreading in the community, especially to our older more vulnerable residents.

“Our children need to be vaccinated as they are the main spreaders of the virus.

“The cases in Australia are extremely worrying – even higher than two years ago when we experienced a similar epidemic,” he added.

Although the uptake of the flu vaccination in East Lancashire has risen over the last couple of years – doctors said it is still way below the 60 per cent needed to protect the whole community.

Dominic Harrison, director of public health for Blackburn with Darwen Council, joined in the calls for people to get vaccinated.

He said: “This year it is going to more important than ever to get as many of us vaccinated against flu as possible. Each year, the northern hemisphere countries tend to get flu strains that have been virulent in the south in their previous ‘flu season’.

“This year, Australia has seen one of its worst flu epidemics for years (in their winter -our summer). It also arrived and peaked earlier than most previous years over the past decade, so there is a very real chance that we will see this in December, January and February in the UK.”

You are eligible to receive a free flu vaccination if you are 65 years of age or over, are pregnant, have certain medical conditions such as asthma or diabetes, are living in a long-stay residential care home or other long-stay care facility and are the main carer for an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if you fall ill.

All primary school children aged between two and ten years of age are also eligible.

Contact your GP surgery to book a flu vaccine or visit www.nhs.uk/Service-Search to find your nearest pharmacy.