More than 20 outbreaks of flu have been reported in schools, hospitals and care homes and the number of calls to NHS Direct about symptoms has risen threefold.

The Department of Health and the Health Protection Agency have written to doctors informing them that levels are now high enough to warrant them prescribing antiviral drugs to combat influenza in the elderly, small children and people with long-term illnesses.

The antiviral drugs are not 'flu jabs’, which have mostly been given to those in need by this stage of the year, but are drugs like Tamiflu which shorten the length of time you are ill once you been infected.

Our Private GPs can prescribe Tamiflu at both our clinic in Harley Street, London and St Anns Square, Manchester.

A flu vaccination is your best chance to protect against becoming ill with flu. However, flu strains may vary from area to area, so if you are exposed to a strain of flu that is not the same strain as the one your vaccination protects against, you may still get the flu — and that’s where TAMIFLU may be able to help.

How can TAMIFLU help?

• For flu treatment: When taken within two days of experiencing symptoms, TAMIFLU works by helping to stop the flu virus from spreading inside the body

• For flu prevention: When you have been exposed to someone with the flu, taking TAMIFLU can help keep the virus from making you sick

TAMIFLU is approved for adults and children aged 1 year and older and  must be taken within 12 to 48 hours from thefirst appearance of flu symptoms.

For more information visit www.tamiflu.com 

The flu season did not begin until the second week of January last winter and although it has started earlier this year, experts do not believe this means there will be an epidemic.

The Health Protection Agency monitors calls to NHS Direct, GP consultations about flu and reports of outbreaks for signs the influenza season has begun.

Flu activity has increased in the community in recent weeks according to surveillance schemes monitored by the Health Protection Agency. As a result, the Agency has recommended to the Department of Health that antiviral drugs for flu should now be used according to guidance provided by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

GP consultations about 'flu-like’ symptoms have risen from 16.5 per 100,000 consultations in the last week of November to 27.6 per 100,000 in the first week of December.

Dr Richard Pebody, a flu expert from the Health Protection Agency, said: 'Since early December seasonal flu activity has started to increase to the normal levels seen most winters.'

Doctors in England have now been advised that the use of antiviral drugs for the prevention or treatment of flu in patients who are at higher risk of developing complications from the infection is now recommended.

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