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• Other trends the CDC spotted last year:
• --Roughly a third of teenagers got a flu vaccine.
• --So did 45 percent of high-risk young and middle-aged adults, those who are particularly vulnerable to flu because they also have asthma, diabetes or any of a list of other health conditions.
• --About 47 percent of pregnant women were vaccinated. Women have five times the risk of severe illness if they catch the flu when they're pregnant, and they can require hospitalization and suffer preterm labor as a result. Vaccination not only protects them, but recent research shows it also provides some protection to their newborns as well.
• Vaccination rates vary widely among states, too. Nevada vaccinates a third of people who are eligible, while South Dakota reaches 51 percent. In Iowa, 76 percent of seniors get their flu shot, compared to half in Alaska. In Rhode Island, 74 percent of children are vaccinated, compared to 39 percent in Alaska.
• Manufacturers are expected to make about 135 million doses of flu vaccine this year, and there are four different forms to choose from:
• --The traditional flu shot is for all ages and people with high-risk health conditions.
• --FluMist, the squirt-up-the-nose version, is for healthy people ages 2 to 49 who aren't pregnant.
• --A high-dose shot is available for people 65 and older.
• --And the intradermal shot -- a skin-deep prick instead of the usual inch-long

needle -- is available for 18- to 64-year-olds.
• The vaccine is covered by insurance, and Medicare and some plans don't require a copay; drugstore vaccination programs tend to charge about $30.
• People can be vaccinated anytime, but Jernigan cautioned that it takes about two weeks for protection to kick in. Flu typically starts to appear in October or November, and peaks in January or February.
• Also this year, public health groups are urging workers in doctors' offices, hospitals and particularly nursing homes, where patients are especially vulnerable, to do a better job getting vaccinated.
• About 67 percent of health care workers were vaccinated last year, a number that's slowly rising. Doctors are the best role models, with about 86 percent immunized. But anyone -- from the receptionist to the person delivering meals -- can spread influenza to patients, and just half of those workers in nursing homes got vaccinated last year, Koh said.
• In addition to patient safety, hospitals and clinics need to have enough healthy

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