This week, GP reveals that the flu jab programme looks set to be extended to pregnant women after a study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found there was a 63 per cent reduction in influenza illness among infants born to women who were vaccinated while pregnant.
The story, published in tomorrow's GP, received extensive coverage in the national newspapers this morning, including the front-page lead in the Telegraph, and articles in the Daily Mail, the Guardian and the Express.
While the team at GP always write for our audience of general practitioners, every now and again some of our stories have national significance and will be of interest to the general public. In some cases these will be about organisational or political issues, for example polyclinics or extended hours, and in others they have a clinical focus, such as this flu jab story.
And, while it's not our main aim to get ‘picked up by the nationals', there is something extremely satisfying about seeing one of our stories appear in the papers - particularly if it makes the front page.
Of course, the reason this story is of interest to the newspapers is that it is about a change in health policy - and one that will have a big impact on both general practice and the wider public.
In 2006, the Joint Committee on Immunisation and Vaccination recommended that pregnant women in their second or third trimester be given the flu vaccine. However the government, concerned about the cost implications, asked the committee to reassess the evidence.
This latest NEJM study demonstrates that the evidence is there to back this move. It is now up to the government to find the funding to implement a change that will have health benefits for new mothers and their babies