Word: flu
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Since 1997, when six people in Hong Kong died of avian influenza - the first confirmed human victims of the deadly virus - this southern Chinese city has been the front line in the fight against a potential global pandemic that scientists warn could ultimately kill millions. Unfortunately, the bird flu virus has proven a canny, and adaptable, enemy...
...errant outbreak of swine flu at Fort Dix, New Jersey, caused scientists to worry about a possible pandemic, so President Gerald Ford announced that the federal government would vaccinate the entire U.S. population. Unfortunately, several hundred people developed Guillain-Barré syndrome, an illness characterized by nerve damage and paralysis, after receiving the vaccination. The Ford family tried to alleviate fears by televising their flu shots, and in the end 40 million Americans were vaccinated for a strand of influenza that only had a handful of documented cases of human infection. (Read "Does the Flu Vaccine Really Protect Kids...
...develop a shot. Everything happens on a very tight schedule - the FDA must approve the vaccine by the spring, the vaccine must be in production by August and be ready to be administered in October-December, so that people have enough time to develop an immunity by the time flu season comes around in January. The process doesn't always go smoothly, of course. In 2004, California-based Chiron Corp. had to scrap 48 million doses of the vaccine - half the U.S. supply - when regulators discovered that it had been tainted with bacteria. Americans were urged to reserve shots...
Everything appears to be on track this year; with somewhere around 146 million doses, Americans who choose to roll up their sleeves should remain largely sniffle-free this season. There's also a nasal spray, featuring a live but severely inhibited strand of the flu, that seems to work best on children. Information on how to receive the flu vaccine can be found on the CDC's website, www.cdc.gov...
Read "How Long Does Flu Immunity Last...