If you have an underlying health condition the best thing you can do to protect yourself against flu is get the vaccine.

This is the advice from health officials as the flu season gets under way.

Dr John Rodriguez, Screening and Immunisation Lead for Kent, Surrey and Sussex said: “Flu is a serious illness and even more so for people with underlying health conditions. If you get flu on top of diabetes, heart, kidney or liver disease or if you’ve had a stroke, it can easily develop into something very serious and mean you have to go into hospital.

“People with chronic health conditions are also much more likely to develop serious complications like pneumonia, inflammation of the heart, brain and muscle tissues and even multi-organ failure.

“That’s why I would urge patients to have the vaccine as soon as possible, to give themselves the best chance of immunity before the flu virus begins actively circulating in the community.”

Kirsty Biss, a 27-year-old singer from Brighton, has had her annual flu vaccination. Kirsty was born with an illness called cystinosis – a very rare condition that causes crystals to form in the organs and ultimately leads to kidney failure. She said: “Before my kidney transplant earlier this year I had kidney failure and was on dialysis for three years. When I was on dialysis I was immunosuppressed, which meant I was at greater risk of catching and developing very serious complications from common illnesses like flu.