The swine flu virus is targeting the young, and not the elderly, experts say Children under five were excluded from this year's flu vaccination programme on medical and not cost grounds, the Department of Health has insisted.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley took advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the DoH said.
The JCVI dropped a recommendation to repeat last year's jabs for children in revised advice in July, officials said.
Labour has criticised a lack of protection for young children.
It has also been critical of the axing of the annual flu-jab awareness campaign.
The Daily Telegraph said the decision not to offer jabs was a cost-cutting measure that saved £85m.
But the DoH denied MrLansley had "cancelled" the programme.
"Our influenza immunisation programme has been designed to protect those particularly at risk from serious disease, either from influenza itself or in whom influenza would make their underlying disease worse," the DoH said.
"This means that we use an age and risk group-based approach in line with most other countries that have seasonal influenza vaccination programmes. We continue to monitor the current situation very carefully and JCVI keeps the policy for seasonal influenza vaccination under review as well."
And shadow health secretary John Healey accused ministers of leaving children at risk.
He told the Daily Mail: "The serious problem lies with the groups that are most at risk, like children. That has come because the government axed the annual advertising campaign and they cancelled the flu jab plan for the under-fives.
Professor John Oxford Virologist“The thing about this swine flu is that it doesn't go for elderly people, it doesn't go for anyone over the age of 60”
"The health secretary has been silent. The only attention he's paid to preparations for this winter's flu outbreak was to axe the autumn advertising campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated and make them aware of the risks."
But Mr Lansley has insisted that the publicity campaign was not needed.
"There is no additional merit in a vaccination advertising campaign for the general population when there is already a targeted approach for those who need to be called," he said.
"We urge those who have been contacted to respond positively."
Figures published by the Health Protection Agency on Friday showed the number of people in critical care with confirmed or suspected flu in England had risen to 460 - more than double the number of a week before.
Of those, 366 were aged between 16 and 64, 51 were aged 65 and over, 26 were under five and another 17 were aged between five and 15.
Of the 27 people to have died from flu this season so far, nine were children. Among the fatalities, 24 had
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