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Flu season is about to start, and public health officials are worried that their recommendation earlier this year to avoid using the nasal spray version of the annual vaccine will result in fewer people getting protection. The CDC has recommended annual flu shots for everyone ages 6 months and older for the past six years. During the 2014-2015 season, federal health officials had recommended the nasal spray vaccine for young children. But an expert panel on vaccines said in June that the nasal spray, FluMist, used by millions, failed to protect children last year for the third year in a row and should not be used this coming flu season. (Sun, 9/29)

Federal health officials are urging all Americans to get their flu shots as soon as possible, and are especially concerned that too few elderly people are getting vaccinated. "Flu is serious. Flu is unpredictable," Dr. Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters during a joint briefing Thursday with the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. "Flu often does not get enough respect." (Stein, 9/29)

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended that everyone aged 6 months or older get this year’s flu vaccine. But this year, following the recommendations of an expert panel in June, officials warned the public not to get the nasal version, known as FluMist, because studies showed it didn’t work. (Colliver, 9/29)

The FluMist nasal spray version of the vaccine popular with needle-averse kids, and their parents, is no longer available. A task force advising the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended earlier this year that people not use it after studies found it ineffective. Schools, health departments, drugstores and doctors' offices are now stocking up on the injectable flu vaccine. School flu clinics are being retooled for the more time-consuming, angst-producing shots. And worried parents may bring their children to doctors' offices so they can be there for them. (Cohn, 9/29)