Yes, the Flu vaccine is made by growing the virus in chicken eggs, and eggs are the source of a salmonella outbreak this summer that has led to nearly 1,470 illnesses and prompted a nationwide egg recall.

But the eggs used to make flu vaccine come from different farms than those sold to consumers as food. Considered an important part of the government’s arsenal against a flu pandemic, they’re also tested vigorously for pathogens, officials say.

Eggs used for vaccines are fertilized, while those sold for eating are not.

A “seed virus” is injected into eggs, then grows in the egg white and is later harvested for use in vaccine.

“The recent August 2010 salmonella outbreak in shell eggs for food consumption and subsequent recall does not affect 2010-2011 influenza virus vaccine production, safety or availability,” an FDA spokeswoman confirmed.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, yearly flu vaccination should begin in September or as soon as vaccine is available and continue throughout the influenza season, into December, January, and beyond. This is because the timing and duration of influenza seasons vary. While influenza outbreaks can happen as early as October, most of the time influenza activity peaks in January or later.

While everyone should get a flu vaccine each flu season, it’s especially important that the following groups get vaccinated either because they are at high risk of having serious flu-related complications or because they live with or care for people at high risk for developing flu-related complications:

- Pregnant women

- Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old

- People 50 years of age and older

- People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions

- People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities

- People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:

- Health care workers

- Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu

- Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than 6 months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)

What kind of protection does the flu vaccine offer?

Flu vaccines aren’t 100 percent effective. According to the CDC, when the match between flu vaccine and circulating strains of flu virus is close, a flu shot is between 70 and 90 percent effective in warding off influenza in healthy people under age 65.

The standard flu shot is less effective for older adults because they produce fewer antibodies in response to the virus. A new higher-dose vaccine has been approved for use in people age 65 and older. If you’re interested in receiving the higher-dose vaccine, ask your doctor if it’s available in your area.

Why do children need two doses of the flu vaccine?

Children younger than 9 years old require two doses of the flu vaccine, spaced at least four weeks apart, if it’s the first time they’ve been vaccinated for influenza. That’s because children don’t develop an adequate antibody level the first time they get the vaccine. If a flu vaccine shortage occurred and your child couldn’t get two doses of vaccine, one dose might still offer some protection.

Can I lower my risk of the flu without getting a flu shot?

With or without a flu shot, you can take steps to help protect yourself from the flu and other viruses. Good hygiene remains your primary defense against contagious illnesses.

Wash your hands often and thoroughly with soap and water.

Use an alcohol-based sanitizer on your hands.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth whenever possible.

Avoid crowds when the flu is most prevalent in your area.

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Rather than treating only the depressed adult, health-care and mental-health professionals should evaluate the fallout of depression on the entire family, particularly children and design treatment programs with everyone in mind.“To break the vicious circle of depression, we need to refocus our view of this illness through a broader lens that sees the whole, family, not just the individual with depression,” said committee chair and psychiatrist Mary Jane England, president of Regis College in Weston, Mass. “Our report describes a new vision for depression care that would provide comprehensive services not just to adults, but to their children as well. It will take significant policy changes to make this vision a reality, but the benefits warrant the effort.”

The report says about one in five U.S. parents experience depression annually. About 15.6 million children under 18 live with an adult who has had major depression in the past year.

While depressed parents don’t necessarily harm their children, deliberately or inadvertently, studies have show parental depression can increase the chances of children having health, emotional and behavioral problems.

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The small nutritional study done by researchers at Cornell University looked at 25 working mothers and 25 working fathers in low-to-moderate income communities. They found that more than half of the participants routinely resorted to unhealthy eating options because of their work circumstances.

Carol Devine, the lead author of the study, which was published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, launched the analysis after a 2006 study that she had conducted revealed that participants’ work schedules were a primary obstacle to better nutritional habits.

“Working parents are really busy people,” she says. “We wanted to delve into this group and figure out what it was about their jobs that might influence the food strategies they used.”

In the current study, Devine found that fathers tended to skip family meals, eat at work or feed their families take-out meals; mothers were likely to skip breakfast and buy restaurant or prepared entrees instead of cooking.

“We know that when people eat together as a family, diets of both the parents and the children tend to be better. But often our jobs don’t allow us to eat together at home as often as we’d like,” says Devine. “This is more common than we expected, and it’s not just fast food.”

The issue is not simply a matter of what we eat, but how we eat. Long and irregular work hours are a primary cause of unhealthy eating habits, and while scheduling issues can’t always be avoided, there are certain workplace-based interventions that could improve the diets of many wage-earning workers.

Shift employees, for example, often resort to munching from vending machines because their employers’ cafeterias are closed during off hours; keeping cafeterias open longer during off-hours could help workers to eat healthier. Having breaks to ensure that employees eat regularly would be another helpful intervention.

Devine hopes that by quantifying the nutritional impact of on-the-job constraints, it might finally prompt employers to make some workplace changes. “We are not going to fix the obesity epidemic simply by telling people to eat well and choose good food,” she says. “This study is telling us that it is the structure of our lives that makes it very difficult to do what doctors recommend.”

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This medicine is used to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The inhalers were taken from a warehouse and may be harmful because they have not been properly stored and could lose potency.  They could have been tampered with or even become contaminated.

The lot numbers are:

-9ZP2255 NDC 0173-0696-00 Advair Diskus 250/50, 60 Dose Exp 9/2010

-9ZP3325 NDC 0173-0697-00 Advair Diskus 500/50, 60 Dose Exp 9/2010

Check your medicine cabinet and if you have any of these products, stop using them immediately and contact your doctor.

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Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a patch consisting of microneedles that will administer vaccines virtually pain-free.

The patch consists of tiny microneedles so small you can’t even see them.  Here’s how it works. You place the patch on the skin just like a Band-Aid, the needles barley penetrate the skin before they dissolve and release the vaccine.

The patch feels like sand paper and is currently being tested with flu vaccine.

The researchers say the patch could be available in the next five years.

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Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Duke University studied 681 parents and 433 fourth and fifth grade studentws at 12 schools in Houston, Texas. The children, both boys and girls, of parents who valued high-intensity team sports watched TV less, spent less time on their computers and were more active than other children.

Parents’ approval of all types of exercise, including team and individual sports, was associated with increased activity levels among boys, but not among girls.

“The difference between activity levels in the girls and boys had to do with the parents’ attitudes toward the types of activities,” study author Cheryl Braselton Anderson said in a news release. “Parents encouraged sons to partake in vigorous-and moderate-intensity team and individual sports, and vigorous-intensity home chores, such as heavy yard work, more than they encouraged these activities for their daughters.”

Anderson said this shows there is still a “gender bias on encouraging boys to participate in certain sports and strenuous activities more than girls.” The study appears in the July 2009 issue of Health Psychology.

For the study, vigorous team sports included soccer and basketball, moderate team sports included baseball/softball, football and volleyball. Intense individual sports included running, cycling, swimming and skating, while moderate individual activity included walking and golf. Vigorous household chores included heavy yard work and moving furniture, while cleaning, raking leaves, weeding and carrying groceries were defined as moderate household chores.

“Playing team sports, especially the more strenuous ones, really makes a difference in decreasing both boys’ and girls’ media use and making them more active,” Anderson said. “It’s a good idea for parents to adopt a positive attitude toward all types of vigorous physical activities for boys and girls and know that girls can and want to do them.”

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Kellogg Company has announced a recall of about 28 million boxes of Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Fruit Loops and Honey Smacks cereals because of an unusual smell and flavor from the packages’ liners.

The company said about 20 people have complained about feeling ill and  five had become sick with nausea and vomiting.

According to a Kellogg spokesperson, consumers said the cereal smelled or tasted waxy or soapy and some said it tasted stale.

Kellogg is trying to figure out the substance that may be causing the problem and is offering consumers full refunds.

The cereals in question were in stores beginning in March and include the letters “KN” after the use-by date.

If you are concerned about the recall or want a refund, you can contact the Kellogg Consumer Response Center 1-888-801-4163.

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The FDA uncovered the scam after purchasing the drug from an online retailer claiming to be an out-of-business drugstore.

The medication came in a two-fold blister packet labeled “Oseltamivir Phosphate 75 mg.  The FDA says the fraudulent pills are manufactured by TRYDRUGS Pharmaceuticals PVT. LTD.

There are legitimate online pharmacies and consumers can protect themselves against fraud and fake meds by looking for the seal from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy Verified Internet Pharmacy Sites (VIPPS).  All certified sites are listed on the VIPPS site.

If you have purchased this medication, you should contact the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations.

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The findings released by the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health show that most parents have a variety of concerns about their child’s online safety.

The researchers found that 81 percent of parents surveyed said their children aged 9 to 17 use the internet without being supervised by an adult. Almost half have profiles on social-networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook; the number grows to two-thirds among kids aged 13 to 17.

Among parents whose kids go online, about two-thirds of the parents said they’re concerned about sexual predators on the internet, and about half of the parents worry about their children seeing pornographic images or videos.

Parents were less concerned about online gambling and video games,  the survey found.

“Parents are quite aware of some online safety risks but seem less aware about others,” Dr. Matthew Davis, director of the poll, said.

“We know from other studies that about one in seven children between the ages of 10 and 17 have received sexual solicitation over the Internet, and about one in three children have been exposed to sexually explicit material.

So it’s not a surprise that most parents whose kids are online unsupervised are concerned about issues related to sexual predators and pornography. On the other hand, cyberbullying is a very worrisome problem for kids, yet the majority of parents say they are not concerned about it.”

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The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found that regardless of ethnicity, maternal education or job level, children whose mothers worked part or full-time were less likely to eat fruits or vegetables at meals or as snacks.  The study also found the children would watch TV or play on the computer for more than two hours a day compared to children of non-working mothers who would watch TV or be on the computer less than two hours.

The study also said these children were more likely to drink sweetened beverages such as sodas in between meals, snack on chips and be driven to school, compared to walking or cycling.

“Time constraints may limit parents’ capacity to provide their children with healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity,” said the study. “Although we found that flexible work arrangements were not detrimental, they are unlikely to be important in helping parents support the development of positive health behaviors in their children,” the study authors wrote.

The research, however, said it was not implying that mothers should not work, but highlighting the need for policies and programs to support parents.

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