MORE people are to be offered protection against flu this year in a bid to prevent the spread of the illness.

For the first time this year, a nasal spray vaccine will be offered to healthy two and three-year-old children. This marks the first step in an extension to the national flu vaccination programme, which will eventually include yearly vaccination of all two to 16-year-olds.

A study published this week by Public Health England and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine found children are key “spreaders” of the flu virus.

Young children aged two and three will be offered the nasal spray vaccine to protect them against flu, as their close contact with each other means they are more likely to transmit the virus to other more vulnerable groups – including infants and older people.

Almost 800 people were admitted to intensive care with complications of flu last year.