influenza

Luz Barajas took her son Carlos Cholico to get his flu shot at Crawford Kids Clinic in Aurora, Colo., last year. Health officials say there is some evidence the flu shot is more protective than the nasal flu vaccine.

CDC Urges Americans To Get A Flu Shot As Soon As Possible

2:49pm September 29, 2016

by Rob Stein

There's plenty of vaccine available this year, and the sooner people get vaccinated the better, federal health officials say. A recent drop in vaccination, especially among the elderly, concerns them.

Yes, It Is Possible To Get Your Flu Shot Too Soon

3:49pm September 15, 2016

by Julie Appleby

The vaccine is already showing up in drugstores, but maybe wait until Halloween to get the shot, doctors say, especially if you're over 65 and want to be protected against flu this winter.

Fourth-grader Jasmine Johnson got a FluMist spray at her Annapolis, Md., elementary school in 2007. This year, the nasal spray vaccine isn't recommended.

Pediatricians Recommend Flu Vaccination, Just Not With The Spray

1:33pm September 06, 2016

by Richard Harris

The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't recommend using the nasal spray flu vaccine. In late August, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded it wasn't up to snuff.

FluMist is a live attenuated vaccine, which should make it more effective than the inactivated virus in flu shots.

Study Says FluMist Vaccine Does Indeed Work, Contradicting CDC

8:32pm August 15, 2016

by Tara Haelle

In June, the CDC said the popular nasal flu vaccine isn't effective based on its use in U.S. children. But a new Canadian study says that it does indeed work. It's not at all clear who's right.

A sick employee can spread illness to customers or patients.

Sick? People Say They Still Go To Work, Even When They Shouldn't

6:38pm July 11, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

An NPR poll found that most working adults say they go to work when they're sick. For people who work in hospitals or restaurants that can be a problem, since it's easy to spread disease.

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Back in 2009, Ella Curry, 6, received a spritz of FluMist at Northwood High School in Silver Spring, Md.

How FluMist Slipped From Preferred To Passe

4:59pm June 27, 2016

by Julie Appleby

A CDC advisory panel concluded the nasal spray vaccine is so ineffective that it shouldn't be used by anyone during the 2016-2017 flu season. Until 2015, the spray was the top choice for kids.

Bad News For Kids Who Don't Like Flu Shots

8:21pm June 23, 2016

by Carolyn Beans

A panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended against using a needle-free flu vaccine that's popular with pediatricians, parents and children.

Doctors don't always suggest that pregnant women get flu shots, which may account for the relatively low vaccination rates.

When Pregnant Women Get Flu Shots, Babies Are Healthier

5:00am May 07, 2016

by Esther Landhuis

Babies are much less likely to get the flu in their first months of life if mom got a flu shot while she was pregnant, a study finds. Yet most expectant mothers don't get immunized.

Sonia Shah is also the author of The Fever and The Body Hunters.

'Pandemic' Asks: Is A Disease That Will Kill Tens Of Millions Coming?

5:40pm February 22, 2016

Author Sonia Shah says that urbanization and air travel put the global population at an increased risk for disease. "Zika is a great example of how new pathogens are emerging today," she says.

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Kelli Fabick of Ellisville, Mo., held her mother's Australian silky terrier, Zoey, as veterinarian Sarah Hormuth gave the dog a flu shot last April. The dog flu strain H3N2 is now circulating in more than two dozen U.S. states.

Dog Flu Virus Spreading Across The United States

5:55pm January 29, 2016

by Rob Stein

One strain of dog flu causing outbreaks in the U.S. appears to be especially contagious, making it likely more dogs than usual will get sick, veterinarians say. Still, 90 percent of cases are mild.