Elderly people over the age of 75 are being urged to take their free flu jabs.
According to Help the Aged, the take-up on free injections has been low because of recent mild weather.
However, the charity's information manager Nicky Lappin said with the advent of colder weather there could be an epidemic, adding: "Flu can be a killer."
As winter sets in the National Pharmaceutical Association has warned elderly people to beware of prescriptions that can lead to hypothermia.
The association says some drugs like sleeping pills and tranquillisers can reduce the body's defence mechanism and lower body temperature.
In some cases it only takes a few hours for a person to develop hypothermia -- when the body temperature drops below 35 degrees.
Elderly people should check prescriptions with their doctors and keep warm by eating regularly, dressing warmly and having adequate heating in at least one room in the home.
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