Flu Risk Groups
Influenza vaccination clinical risk groups
| Clinical risk groups | Examples (decision based on clinical judgement) |
| Pregnancy | All pregnant women |
| Chronic Respiratory Disease | Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) including chronic bronchitis and emphysema; bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, interstitial lung fibrosis, pneumoconiosis and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)Asthma – with disease which requires continuous or repeated use of inhaled or systemic steroids or with previous exacerbations requiring hospital admissionChildren who have previously been admitted to hospital for lower respiratory tract disease |
| Chronic Heart Disease | Congenital heart diseaseHypertension with cardiac complicationsChronic heart failureIndividuals requiring regular medication and/or follow-up for ischaemic heart disease |
| Chronic Renal Disease | Chronic renal failureNephrotic syndromeRenal transplantation |
| Chronic liver disease | CirrhosisBiliary atresiaChronic hepatitis |
| Chronic Neurological Disease | StrokeTransient ischaemic attack (TIA) |
| Diabetes | Type 1 diabetesType 2 diabetes requiring insulin or oral hypoglycaemic drugsDiet controlled diabetes |
| Immunosuppression | Immunosupression due to disease or treatmentPatients undergoing chemotherapy leading to immunosuppressionAsplenia or splenic dysfunctionHIV infectionIndividuals treated with or likely to be treated with systemic steroids for more than a month at a dose equivalent to prednisolone at 20mg or more per day (any age) or for children under 20kg a dose of 1mg or more per kg per day. Some immunocompromised patients may have a suboptimal immunological response to the vaccine |
- Those living in long-stay residential care homes or other long-stay care facilities where rapid spread is likely to follow introduction of infection and cause high morbidity and mortality (this does not include prisons, young offender institutions, university halls of residence etc.)
- Those who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill. This should be given on an individual basis at the GP’s discretion in the context of other clinical risk groups in their practice.