A 72-year-old Laindon woman became a statistic in the country's flu epidemic after being refused a jab.

Iris Treherne was told she was not old enough to qualify for the vaccination when she sought protection at Laindon health centre last autumn.

Yet the previous year, when she was registered with another practice, she said her doctor insisted she had the jab - otherwise he would not come out to treat her if she succumbed.

Mrs Treherne, of Purcell Close, Laindon, who suffers from pernicious anaemia and an under-active thyroid, fell ill with flu over Christmas.

She said: "I felt dreadful. I would not have been so ill if I had been given the jab."

Government guidelines recommend immunisation should be targeted at at-risk groups.

They are said to be patients over 75; those in long-stay residential accommodation; people with chronic respiratory disease such as asthma and those with heart disease, chronic renal disease, diabetes or a weakened immune system.

Mrs Treherne's daughter,Tina Hailstone, said: "No wonder the hospitals are full now, and so many older people are dying." She claimed other doctors were recommending all 70-year-olds should get the jab.

Mrs Hailstone, 42, of Brackley Crescent, Basildon, added that she had asked the health centre to give her a letter saying they had refused to give her mother the immunisation, but it was refused.

She said: "Seventy-five is far too old - not just because of my mother. The policy must change."

A spokesperson for the practice said Mrs Treherne did not fall into one of the at-risk groups, laid down in Government guidelines, but was offered the jab if she paid for it.

Not all south Essex doctors stick to the letter of Government policy.

Dr John Cormack's South Woodham Ferrers surgery invites people 65 or over to get immunised.

He said: "Patients over 65 are likely to have more risk factors, and hence to be more likely to have serious complications of flu. I imagine we are paying dearly for the so-called 'saving' on the drugs budget."

Hospitals are gearing up for another day of increased emergency admissions as the pressure on beds and the flu outbreak showed no signs of abating.

Influenza misery - Iris was refused a flu jab by her doctor

Picture: STEPHEN LLOYD

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