After last year's difficult flu season, including flu shot shortages, an early start to the flu season and heavy media attention, everyone was hoping for a quiet flu season this year. Unfortunately, it got off to a rough start.

Even before the flu season started, the announcement came that half of the flu supply to the United States would be unavailable. New recommendations for flu shots from the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices soon followed, with priority going to those most at risk and others being asked to "forego or defer vaccination" this year.

Unlike previous years, when it was recommended that you should get your children a flu shot if you simply wanted to decrease their chances of getting the flu, it is recommended that only those children who are most at risk get a flu shot this year. This includes:

• All children between the ages of 6 and 23 months (a new recommendation this year).
• All children older than 2 years with chronic medical problems, such as asthma, diabetes or immune system problems, etc.
• All children older than 2 years on chronic aspirin therapy, such as Kawasaki disease (because these children are at risk for Reye syndrome).
• All children who have a sibling who is younger than 6 months of age.

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