WebMD Medical News Daniel J. DeNoon Louise Chang, MD Feb. 24,
2010 -- Everybody, not just those at risk of complications,
should get a yearly flu shot, the CDC's immunization advisory
panel says. The CDC almost certainly will make universal flu
vaccination official U.S. policy for this fall's 2010-2011 flu
season, as it consistently follows the advice of the panel of
outside experts, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices (ACIP). Now flu vaccination will be advised even for
healthy adults ages 19 to 49 who do not come into contact with
infants or elderly people, who are at highest risk of flu
complications. That's only 15% of the U.S. population. But the
ACIP say the effect of the universal recommendation will affect
far more people. That's because a lot of people for whom the flu
vaccine already is recommended don't think of themselves as
being at high risk. Moreover, the universal recommendation
simplifies the extremely complicated current recommendations
that create confusion about who sho