A bereaved mother is urging parents to have their children vaccinated against flu after losing one of her twins to the disease on Christmas Day. Louie Hughes, who was 15 months old, and his brother Vinnie were placed in induced comas after they both contracted the illness in December. Although Vinnie has since recovered, his brother could not be saved. Their mother, Meg Hughes, from Stockton-on-Tees, is now calling for flu jabs to be mandatory.
Ms Hughes said that before Louie caught the virus, he had been “thriving” since being born prematurely at just 26 weeks. Despite having spent months in hospital following their premature birth, the twins had “no major medical needs” and had grown into “happy babies”. However, their health quickly deteriorated after they contracted flu, and Louie’s heart stopped on Christmas Day.
Although infants under six months old are too young to receive a flu vaccine, Ms Hughes wants all school children to be vaccinated before they start school. However, the latest statistics from the UK Health Security Agency indicate that fewer than half of school-age children across the country were given a flu jab this winter.
A spokesperson for the UK government praised Ms Hughes’s campaign for better vaccine uptake, stating that “it is the best way to protect you and your loved ones.” They added that it was “vitally important” for everyone to have recommended vaccinations, and that children over the age of two were routinely offered the flu vaccine
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