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CDC Is Not Recommending Early Influenza Vaccination WESTPORT, Oct 07 (Reuters Health) - Contrary to widespread media reports urging the public to get flu shots now, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not made any such recommendation. In a statement, Dr. Keiji Fukuda of the CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases notes that an outbreak of influenza A occurred this summer in Alaska. As reported in June by Reuters Health, a CDC health advisory recommended that physicians inform at-risk patients who planned to travel to Alaska and the Yukon that 388 cases of acute respiratory infection with cough and fever occurred between May 22 and June 21 in these regions. Newspaper and broadcast reports this week said that influenza A imported from Alaska had triggered an early start to this year's flu season, and that public health officials had initiated vaccination campaigns. The statement issued by the CDC on October 5 points out that background influenza activity does occur during the summer, but "...such activity does not predict the start or peak or severity of influenza activity during the fall and winter months." Specifically, "CDC has not predicted when influenza activity will substantially pick up in the US," the release continues, and "CDC also has not issued recommendations for early influenza vaccination." The CDC reiterated its long-standing recommendation that people at high risk of influenza complications be vaccinated annually starting in October or at any time during the flu season. [log in to unmask]