GPs failing to vaccinate elderly against flu

AS Ireland prepares for a swine flu pandemic the State’s disease monitoring watchdog says GPs are failing to ensure that their older patients are vaccinated against the seasonal flu.

Only three out of five people over the age of 65 are vaccinated against the flu virus – a disease responsible for around 400 deaths in Ireland every year.

Director of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, Dr Darina O’Flanagan, said GPs needed to make a greater effort at persuading their older patients to get vaccinated.