Flu - Preventing flu

There are three main ways of preventing flu: good hygiene, such as handwashing and cleaning, flu vaccination and antiviral medicines.

Good hygiene

Preventing the spread of germs is the most effective way of slowing the spread of flu. Always:

make sure you wash your hands regularly with soap and water
clean surfaces such as your keyboard, telephone and door handles regularly to get rid of germs
use tissues to cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze
put used tissues in a bin as soon as possible

Read more information about home hygiene.

The flu jab

A flu vaccine is available free on the NHS for:

anyone over the age of 65
pregnant women
children and adults with an underlying health condition (particularly long-term heart or respiratory disease)
children and adults with weakened immune systems

It is given as an annual injection to:

adults over the age of 18 at risk of flu (including everyone over 65)
children aged six months to two years at risk of flu

The flu vaccine is also given as an annual nasal spray to:

children aged two to 18 years at risk of flu
healthy children aged two, three and four years old

It is available from October each year. If you think you need it, talk to your doctor or nurse. Find your local GP surgery here.

Antiviral medication

It is recommended that you take the antiviral medicines Relenza or Tamiflu to prevent flu if all of the following apply:

there is a lot of flu around
you have a medical condition that puts you at risk of flu, such as diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease or a neurological disease
you are aged 65 or over
you have been in contact with someone with a flu-like illness and can start antiviral treatment within 48 hours
you have not been effectively protected by vaccination

You are not effectively protected by vaccination if you:

have not been vaccinated since last winter
cannot be vaccinated or have been vaccinated but it hasn't taken effect yet
have been vaccinated for a different form of flu virus

If there is an outbreak of flu in a residential or nursing home – where the flu virus can often spread very quickly – antiviral medication may be offered to people if they have been in contact with someone with confirmed flu.

For more information, read the NICE guidelines on antivirals to prevent influenza.