Parents must act to ensure their toddlers receive flu vaccinations to help protect them and stop infections being passed to vulnerable grandparents this year the chief medical officer has said.
The Telegraph reports that latest figures show just one in four of the baby faced ‘superspreaders’ of flu has been vaccinated – much lower than last year – and says parents should see their GP soon.
CMO Dame Sally Davis said: ‘Flu can be really nasty for toddlers, leading to time off nursery which has a big impact on mums and dads and sometimes even a stay in hospital. They also spread the virus easily and often pass flu to grandparents and other relatives who can become very ill, fast.’
The NHS spent £80 million on paracetamol in 2013/14, a cost of £3.67 per prescription, despite the drug being available for as little as 19p on the high street, the Daily Mail reports.
The drug was prescribed 22.6 million times at a cost of £83.1 million in 2013/14, compared to the 21.9 million prescriptions worth £73.8m in 2012/13.
The issue was raised by conservative MP Nick de Bois in Parliament this week who says it shows there is still room to find savings in the NHS budgets.
Two children are being tested for Ebola in Newcastle after arriving on a flight from Africa, the Guardian reports.
A spokesperson for Public Health England North East said it was unlikely the children, who are also being tested for malaria, had the disease but results were expected later today.
The spokesperson said: ‘Due to uncertainty about where in Africa the children are from and when they arrived in the UK, as a precaution the children are being tested for Ebola and malaria,’.
