Flu, Flu Vaccine | featured news

Amid the most severe influenza season in more than a decade, federal health officials on Wednesday approved a next-generation, insect-based flu vaccine that sidesteps the thorniest parts of production -- and will be used immediately in people willing to test it.

With the nation in the grip of a severe influenza outbreak that has seen deaths reach epidemic levels, New York State declared a public health emergency on Saturday, making access to vaccines more easily available.

As the country's flu outbreak becomes an epidemic, odds are that you've had a few sheepish feelings about not doing something you probably should have: Gotten a flu shot. As of this November, the majority of American adults 64.8 percent, to be exact had not received a flu immunization. This wasn't a surprise to researchers: Flu is a disease with one of the lowest vaccination rates.

The first flu shot that works with a less-scary skin prick instead of an inch-long needle is hitting the market this fall.

Vaccine makers said this month they plan to make a record amount of flu vaccine for this fall and winter enough for more than half the population.

For 13-year-old Brandon Marti, the intranasal vaccine felt "good," "cold" and "watery" at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx, New York, on Tuesday.

European healthcare regulators recommended two swine flu vaccines for approval on Friday, clearing the way for mass vaccination programs to start imminently.

The World Health Organization says 28 swine flu patients worldwide had viruses resistant to Tamiflu, but another antiviral still ...

Studies of the new swine flu vaccine show children 10 and older will need just one shot for protection against swine flu — but younger kids will need two.

Under CDC plan, four regional sites to ship swine flu vaccines to 90,000 immunization "providers."