Fending Off Flu

Ira Katz, a pharmacist certified to administer the flu vaccine, holds up his pharmacy's leftover supply of the vaccine, at Little Five Points Pharmacy Wednesday March 7, 2007, in Atlanta. Millions of doses of flu vaccine will expire at midnight June 30, unsold during this year's mild flu season and written off as trash. Still perfectly good, and possibly useful for a few more years, it will wind up being destroyed.

University of Michigan freshman Alicja Sobilo works at the front desk of the Alice Lloyd Hall in Ann Arbor, Mich., Jan. 31, 2007. Sobilo and hundreds of other University of Michigan students are part of a research study that could change the way the world looks at influenza. Researchers are trying to determine whether wearing surgical masks and hand sanitizing can prevent the spread of flu or other respiratory illnesses.

Vince Wunderlich, 17, braces for his flu shot, administered by Franklin County Health Department registered nurse Jenny Owens at the health department's drive-through flu shot clinic Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006, in Frankfort, Ky. Wunderlich's employer paid the $15 fee for his vaccination.

Audrey Middleton, left, winces as she gets a flu shot from nurse Donna Williams in Bloomfield, N.J., Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006. While the flu shot protects Middleton this year, the day was a drill for health officials, practicing how they would administer mass vaccinations if a flu pandemic ever occured.

Registered Nurse Jane Johnson draws a dosage of an influenza vaccine during the kickoff of National Influenza Vaccination Week at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, Monday, Nov. 27, 2006.

Acting Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu, left, laughs after receiving a flu shot from Jane Johnson during the kickoff of National Influenza Vaccination Week at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, Monday, Nov. 27, 2006.

Donald King, left, and his wife Janemarie, both of Chicago, Ill., fill out the paper work before getting their flu shots in the United Terminal at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport Nov. 20, 2006. Passengers can get a flu shot for $35 from the program sponsored by the University of Illinois Medical Center.

Nita Shockey, right, an instructor at Vatterot College in Oklahoma City, gives a flu shot to Gene Kordis, left, of Oklahoma City, during a mass flu immunization exercise in which people could obtain drive-thru flu shots, in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2006. The Oklahoma City-County Health Department immunized over 1,700 people in two-and-a-half hours at two locations.

Early tests of skin-patch vaccines are beginning in hundreds of volunteers, one version designed to protect against the flu and another to prevent travelers' diarrhea. Besides being pain-free, the National Institutes of Health is helping fund patch research in hopes of strengthening today's imperfect flu shots, and gaining extra help if bird flu or some other super-flu ever triggers a pandemic.

Syringes filled with an influenza vaccine, Oct. 27, 2006. As many as 115 million doses are expected to be available this year, a new record. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends flu shots be given to children ages six months to five years. They also urge pregnant women, people 50 and older and those with chronic health conditions get the shots.

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