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Increased flu vaccine uptake by NHS staff

More than 40% of frontline NHS staff have been vaccinated against flu, showing an improvement on last year, official figures reveal.

This compares with the 44.6% of staff who were vaccinated over the entire 2011/12 season.

NHS Employers has been running a campaign this year using social media to raise awareness of the importance of flu jabs for frontline staff, it said in a statement.

Dean Royles, director of the NHS Employers organisation, congratulated staff on the increased uptake.

He said: ‘Flu caused 602 deaths in 2010/11 and people with poor health are at greatest risk. This is why it is so important that we get as many NHS staff as possible vaccinated, so they don’t pass the flu virus on to their patients or their families.

‘Our flu fighter campaign has continued to go from strength to strength, with a particular focus on twitter to engage with staff about the importance of vaccinating against flu.’