Chief pharmacist reveals her flu misery because she was too busy to get vaccinated

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One of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent’s most senior pharmacists has revealed how she succumbed to over four months of illness because she was “too busy” to get a flu jab.

Now Tania Cork is urging anyone eligible to get jabbed to avoid her experience, which left her hospitalised and suffering from repeated debilitating infections.

Tania, a normally fit gym-goer, is the area’s Chief Operating Officer for Community Pharmacies.

She said: “I have access to the NHS dashboard which shows the prevalence of flu, and last year I was putting off getting my jab because there seemed little flu around and I was just really busy at work.”

But she caught flu during a three-day break to Barcelona in December 2023.

“I came back and was absolutely exhausted,” she revealed. “Then I felt like I couldn’t breathe – there was a burning pain all down my chest, I was very weak and my muscles ached. I could hardly get down the stairs.”

As her symptoms worsened she called 111 but was having such severe difficulty breathing she couldn’t speak. Her husband was then told to take her directly to A&E where a nurse would be waiting for her on arrival.

Tania said: “I was triaged, and put on a nebuliser to help my breathing while they ran tests. I was becoming confused and they were very concerned I might have sepsis, which is blood poisoning.

“Three hours later the results came back and they pulled all the cubicle curtains shut and put on gloves and masks because I had the flu virus.”

Tania was admitted to hospital and spent two days on an isolation ward while her breathing was stabilised. She was then released to recover at home, but her ill-health was far from over.

“Dring the next four and a half months I had continuous chest infections. I had three sets of anti-biotics, and I literally can’t remember the last time I needed them,” she said.

“I’d feel like I had recovered for a week or so, and then the flu would touch base and knock me back down again.

“My breathing was so bad I honestly thought I was going to need an inhaler for the rest of my life, and I was so weak and tired I just couldn’t function.”

Now she has recovered and has already had her flu jab this year.

“Please get protected as soon as possible,” she urged. “What people don’t realise is that flu opens the door for all sorts of other infections, and any infection can potentially lead to sepsis which can be life-threatening. I will never delay getting vaccinated again.”

You can get the NHS flu vaccine if you are: aged 65 or over (including those who will be 65 by 31 March 2025); have certain health conditions; are pregnant, live in a care home for older adults. Frontline health professionals like Tania should also get vaccinated.