Flu seasons are unpredictable in a number of ways. Although epidemics of flu happen every year, the beginning, severity, and length of the epidemic depends on many factors, including the different types and strains of influenza viruses circulating and whether the viruses in the vaccine match flu viruses that are circulating.

Influenza vaccination rates for adolescents who suffer from asthma and other illnesses are still far too low, according to a recent study.

Vaccinating new mothers and other family members against influenza before their newborns leave the hospital creates a "cocooning effect" that may shelter unprotected children from the flu, a virus that can be life-threatening to infants, according to researchers at Duke Children's Hospital.

Last year, hundreds of University of Buffalo community members were diagnosed with Influenza or a flu-like illness. Recovery from this easily prevented illness can take 5 to 7 days. UB's Student Wellness Team will offer flu vaccine shots to UB students the week of Nov. 4, 2008.

Vaccinating infants and toddlers is an almost universal practice in the United States. Vaccines to prevent flu are a regular part of medical care for senior citizens and at-risk patients.

Annual flu vaccinations are highly effective at preventing acute respiratory illness and making sure that existing breathing problems don’t get any worse, according to research published in the April issue of IJCP, the UK-based International Journal of Clinical Practice.

New research from a scientist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has uncovered information that may someday lead to a better flu vaccine.

A new study published in the February 2008 issue of Pediatrics finds that many children hospitalized for influenza have had a recent, previous hospitalization that would have provided an easy, convenient opportunity to receive a hospital-based influenza vaccination.

Influenza vaccination of health-care workers results in improved patient safety, improved employee safety and decreased health-care expenditures

Regular as clockwork, the flu arrives every year. And, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population on average will come down with it. About 36,000 people will die.