Catch it. Bin it. Kill it.

Public Health England (PHE) and the Department for Health have launched the Catch It, Bin It, Kill It campaign to encourage people to take steps to stop the spread of flu.

The campaign, which is backed by the country’s top doctors, is about raising awareness of the ways the public can protect themselves and reduce spread of the virus including by practising good respiratory hand hygiene.

The flu virus can live for many hours on hard surfaces and therefore practising good hand hygiene can limit the spread of germs and transmission of flu. People are advised to catch coughs and sneezes in a tissue, bin it, and then wash their hands afterwards to kill the germs.

Practising good hand hygiene and giving eligible people the flu vaccine is the best defence against the virus.

The campaign comes at a time when there have been warnings that new flu cases may peak over the busy Christmas period.