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Steve, from Birmingham, writes:

'Where can I get my children vaccinated? They are not in the "at risk" group and the chemists that have been offering vaccinations won't vaccinate under 18's.'

Only those in are eligible for flu jabs from their GP. Pharmacies will give the jab to healthy adults for around £13-15, if they have stocks remaining, but most will not give flu jabs to children as this requires extra training. You could get the vaccine from a private GP or clinic. of parents being charged nearly £80 by a clinic for giving a vaccine to a young child.

Hannah, from Skipton, in North Yorkshire, writes:

'My Three-year-old daughter had the swine flu vaccine last year when it was available to all under-fives (she has no underlying health problems). Will last year's vaccine protect her from this season's outbreak?'

No-one knows for certain what level or duration of protection is provided by last year's pandemic H1N1 vaccine. Flu strains undergo minute changes over the years - something known as "antigenic drift" which is why the vaccine is tweaked every season. That's why those in at-risk groups are offered a new jab every autumn.

Having said all that, the H1N1 swine flu virus does not seem to have altered very much since it hit the headlines in Mexico in early 2009. So being vaccinated last year is likely to offer a good level of continuing protection. But it will not guarantee it. The flu vaccine is not 100% effective. Of 34 deaths for which we have information this winter, one person had received the monovalent (single strain) pandemic H1N1 vaccine last year.

Wendy in Burton-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire, writes:

'In our case both my husband, a diabetic, and myself, 20 weeks pregnant are obviously in "at risk" groups. Although I have two prescriptions from my GP for the influenza vaccine I have to source it myself as they have no stocks and haven't since December. During the last fortnight I have tried many, many places to source the vaccine without success - now it has peaked should I just give up?'

This situation should have changed. Yesterday, the head of immunisation at the Department of Health, Professor David Salisbury, said there was no reason why anyone in an at-risk group should be turned away.

This is because the government has now opened its stockpile of H1N1 pandemic vaccine. There are nearly 13 million doses available. As of yesterday, 400 orders had been submitted and nearly 200,000 doses of vaccine dispatched. So it is worth contacting your GP again to check if they have doses available. If they don't, ask them politely to order some - the Department of Health says it is not charging GPs for the jabs.

If you are in an at-risk group, you should not simply hope for the best. We cannot be sure when the outbreak will peak and it is likely to have a long "tail" - flu viruses will continue to circulate for many weeks to come. So it is best to be protected.

Sue, from the Midlands, asks:

'Why are older people, around my age of 62 not becoming infected with swine flu in the same numbers as younger people? Is it because we have immunity from succumbing to earlier flu epidemics and how similar to H1N1 would these earlier strains have to be for you to build up resistance to the current H1N1?'

The H1N1 virus - or swine flu - is similar to a strain that was circulating between 1918-1957. This was replaced by another strain of flu with a different genetic make-up (H2N2) during the pandemic of 1957. So people born before 1957 seem to have developed some level of immunity from the current swine flu strain.

Having said that, it is no guarantee that elderly people won't fall ill. There have been 16 flu-related deaths among the 65+ age group this winter, out of a population of around 10 million. That number will be an underestimate because it will simply include those who have been tested for flu. Some of the deaths are likely to have been due to other strains of flu that are circulating. So annual immunisation for all older people is a wise move.

Andrew, from Newcastle, asks:

'How do this year's flu death figures compare with each of the last five years? Are they steady, increasing or decreasing?'

The first year of H1N1 swine flu- up to April 2010 - saw nearly 500 confirmed deaths throughout the UK. In each case the person who died tested positive for the virus. But there will have been more deaths where the virus will not have been identified. Since October there have been 112 confirmed deaths from flu.

2009 was the first year that flu deaths were collected in such a precise manner. In previous years the Office for National Statistics worked out the excess of deaths over the winter period during a flu outbreak and compared them to similar periods where there was no flu about. This resulted in a rough estimate of 8,000 flu-related deaths each winter, with 20,000 or more deaths during epidemics. In 1989-90 there are estimates that flu was responsible for 25,000 deaths. But we can't directly compare this winter's figures with years gone by.

Most of the deaths prior to April 2009 were among the frail elderly. The difference, since the advent of swine flu, is that the virus mostly affects those under 65 with people in middle age accounting for the biggest proportion of serious illness. But other flu stains are circulating - H3N2 and Flu B - and these can also cause serious illness especially among the elderly.

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