HEALTH NOTES

Flu vaccine uptake has dropped leaving hundreds of thousands of toddlers without protection in peak flu season. It’s lower than at the same point last year in all age groups apart from the elderly.

Children aged two to three are also considered “super spreaders”, putting the elderly and ill at risk as rates of infection continue to rise.

Health Secretary, Matt Hancock said: “It is unacceptable that uptake rates for the flu vaccine are lower than in the same period last year, for everyone apart from those aged over 65.”

Among over-65s Public Health England (PHE) data shows 70.7% are vaccinated compared to 69.9% at this point last year. In three year olds, take-up is at 37.6%, down from 43.5%. And among two year olds, it is 37.7%, down from 41.9%.

Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, PHE head of flu, said: “Uptake among two to three year olds is behind where we would like to see it.”

Already overstretched hospitals are braced for an influx of patients but experts say this year’s vaccine is a “good match” for the strains of the virus circulating in the UK.

■ Avoid processed foods and stick to meat, vegetables and dairy, a top weight loss surgeon has advised.

NHS doctor Andrew Jenkinson advises people to buy all their food at traditional stores, such as a greengrocer, butcher and fishmonger, as our great-grandparents would have done.

The bariatric surgeon, who has written a book called Why We Eat (Too Much), said: “Imagine you are taking your great-grandmother around the shops. If there’s any food she doesn’t recognise, don’t buy it.”

He insists dieters must also accept they need an hour or two a day to shop and cook from scratch.