Calls for more flu shots for children following worst spread in 5 years

In a bid to improve these figures, global flu expert Professor David Salisbury visited Australia this week and discussed his initiative in the United Kingdom to have all children aged 2-17 vaccinated.

Until recently, Professor Salisbury was Director of Immunisation at the Department of Health in London and was in charge the national immunisation program. He found people with respiratory disease, kidney disease, liver disease and pregnant women, were not being adequately protected.

"If these people get ill, they get really ill, and they die," he said.

"If you vaccinate children, you stop flu spreading, because children are the best spreaders of flu. Vaccinate them, stop the spread of flu, protect the vulnerable people."

This year, one third of flu notifications in Australia were that of children, a figure that increased from one-quarter in 2014.

The UK program began with GPs vaccinating children aged two to four, and now students of all ages are being vaccinated in pilot programs at schools. Both results are showing a reduced flu spread.

"The question is, would Australia benefit from a similar approach? If the review finds that you could do better, you can look at how the UK's program worked and come to your own recommendations."

However, the countries' health systems are not identical, and finding the human and financial resources needed to vaccinate all students in every school is a huge undertaking. But Professor Salisbury said Australian counterparts at the annual Australian Influenza Symposium in Geelong on Monday were interested in looking to adapt the UK's method.

"Sometimes you will vaccinate everybody, and there was no flu. Other years you vaccinate everybody and you say thank goodness. It's about protecting the population as best you can against the possibility that it'll be a bad year."

Despite Australia's flu spike in recent years, our vaccination program is one of the more effective ones in the world.