英国卫生部已经明确，六个月到五岁间的儿童将会在下个月接种甲流疫苗。

最近的流行疾病报告称，儿童就医人数急剧上升，病人死亡人数也在猛增，因此政府的疫苗接种计划的范围也扩大了。

受感染需要住院治疗的人数有783人，比起上周的785人稍微下降。而在住院的人中，有180人需要受到重症监护，比起上周的173人又有上升。

越来越多的证据表明，儿童对甲流病毒的抵抗力很弱，因此，也有了将儿童纳入疫苗接种计划的下一阶段的决定。在英国，21％的甲流死亡人数是14岁以下的。80％需要就医的五岁以下儿童以前都没有出现过健康问题。

现有的疫苗接种优先人群包括那些之前就有身体状况的人，还有他们的保健人员，以及孕妇。例如，有哮喘病或糖尿病的年轻人已经接种了疫苗。现在又加入一批人群，因此目标优先接种群体会从1400万达到2000万人。公医即使没有为其他优先群体的所有病人接种完疫苗，也要在圣诞之前开始为健康儿童接种疫苗。

总医务官利亚姆·唐纳森爵士说：“保护高危人群，会使疾病的严峻程度和死亡人数下降。这就是我们要马上为儿童接种疫苗的原因。

“接种疫苗仍然是个人的选择，但我还是强烈希望有机会接种疫苗的人接受它，保护自己。流感发生严重并发症可能性会很小，但是患者一旦出现这些并发症将有致命危险。”

特伦斯·斯蒂文森教授，儿科和儿童健康皇家学院的校长说：“（我们）强烈鼓励父母为他们的孩子接种疫苗。我们也想强调一下儿童医生和护士接种疫苗的重要性，至少要做到不要传染给他们的病人，那些可能是有着严重疾病的脆弱孩子。”

估计大概有715000人已经感染了甲流。其中近2/3在英国死亡的人是在44岁以下的。

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Healthy children aged between six months and five years old will be vaccinated against swine flu from next month, the Department of Health has confirmed.

The expansion of the government's inoculation programme comes as the latest pandemic bulletin reported a sharp rise in the number of children being admitted to hospital and a further surge in patient deaths.

The overall estimate of swine flu cases, however, showed a second successive weekly fall. Health officials estimate there were 55,000 new cases this week in England compared with 64,000 last week. There was also a dip in cases in Scotland. The decline could still be a temporary consequence of warm weather or half-term: pupils have been one of the main transmission routes.

The number of people needing hospital care for the virus is 783, down slightly from 785 in the previous week. Of those in hospital, 180 were in intensive care - up from 173 the previous week.

The decision to include young children in the next phase of the inoculation programme comes as evidence accumulates demonstrating their vulnerability to the H1N1 virus. Around 21% of all H1N1 deaths in the UK have been among the under-14s. More than 80% of the under-fives who ended up in hospital had no previous health problems.

The existing vaccine priority groups include those with pre-existing medical conditions, their carers and pregnant women. Youngsters with asthma or diabetes, for example, are already being vaccinated. The additional categories will raise the target numbers for priority vaccine groups from 14 million to approaching 20 million. GPs are expected to begin offering the vaccine to healthy young children before Christmas even if they have not inoculated all their patients in other priority groups.

The chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, said: "Protecting those most at risk from the disease will reduce the levels of serious illness, and deaths. That's why we will shortly offer the vaccine to young children.

"Vaccination remains a personal choice, but I urge everyone who is offered the vaccine to accept it and protect themselves. While the risks of serious complications from flu may be small, the impact on those affected can be devastating."

Professor Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: "[We] strongly recommend that parents should get their children vaccinated if they are offered the vaccine. We would like to emphasise the importance of children's doctors and nurses being vaccinated too, not least to prevent passing the infection on to their patients who may be vulnerable children with serious diseases."

Around 715,000 people are estimated to have caught the infection. Nearly two-thirds of those who have died in the UK have been under the age of 44.

该内容来源于英国总领事馆文化教育处