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When Mirella's was about 12 months old he started to develop croup and suffered from a series of colds. He was eventually diagnosed with asthma and has experienced several episodes of flu-like illness since.
Mirella lives with her 2 sons, aged 6 and 3 years, and her husband. She works part-time as a HR professional. Ethnic background: White European.
Georgina's son Alessio, now 10, has complex health needs. Over the years Alessio has suffered from epileptic seizures, hypoglycemia, irritable hip syndrome and now Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. He is also on the autism spectrum. Georgina is very careful to minimize her son's risk of getting ill as Alessio is immunocompromised and even a minor viral illness could prove dangerous.
Georgina is 50 and lives with her son and husband. She works in housing and is also developing her own business. Ethnic background: Chinese.
Daniel was diagnosed with asthma when he was 8 months old. His asthma is now fairly well controlled (aged 11) but he suffers from a flu-like illness at least once every winter which makes his symptoms worse. Nia has noticed that a course of antibiotics can help him not become so unwell with an infection but is also concerned about the possibility of him building up resistance.
Nia is 27 and lives with her son who is 11 and her husband. She’s a lecturer. Ethnic background: White British.
Lyndsey has three children all of whom have been diagnosed with asthma. Her youngest son is most severely affected. To try and protect her children against the flu, her whole family gets the flu vaccine. Lyndsey tries to manage her son's flu at home and as soon as there is a virus in the family she ups his medication.
Lyndsey is 35 and a fulltime mum to three children aged 8, 6 and 4. Ethnic background: White British.
Rebecca's son has experienced several episodes of flu or flu-like illness. They have all been followed by a series of asthma attacks and sometimes resulted in hospital admittance. Rebecca would like to encourage GPs to diagnose asthma at an earlier age and would also appreciate further support to be able manage the flu or flu-like illness episodes at home.
Rebecca is 35 and lives with her husband and 2 children. She and her partner manage their own property business. Ethnic background: White British.
Maria's daughter Jade has experienced several episodes of flu or flu-like illness since being diagnosed with Diabetes Type 1 at 6. Maria manages the episodes at home as much as possible and would like more information from the health professionals of how at-risk children may be affected by flu or flu-like illness.
Maria is 48 and lives with her husband and 2 children. She works as a quality manager. Ethnic background: White British.
Naomi's daughter was initially diagnosed with asthma when she was 2. She was subsequently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 3 and later diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. Her daughter has suffered one episode of flu like illness for which she was hospitalised.
Naomi is 39 and lives with her two children. She works part-time as a self-employed hairdresser. Ethnic background: White British.
Ruth's daughter was diagnosed with asthma at 18 months. It's triggered by colds and viruses and she has been ill with a flu-like illness several times. Ruth and her husband have learnt to manage the episodes through close monitoring of the symptoms, increasing her medication and hospitalizing her when necessary.
Ruth is 36 and lives with her husband and two children. She works as a Project Manager but is currently on maternity leave. Ethnic background: White British.
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Dr Kay Wang is a GP and researcher in the Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, University of Oxford.
