Health Department Plays Down Concerns Over Flu Vaccine Shortage

The State Health Department has some advice for people who are rushing to flu-shot locations, sometimes in numbers so great that they cause traffic problems: Calm Down. Some people are acting as if they’re spooked by reports of shortages of flu medicine. In some parts of Missouri, health food stores report increased business in herbal supplements that people think will protect them from the flu. The State Health Department won’t comment on whether herbs work, saying that’s between a person and his or her doctor. Some lines have been forming in some places before sunrise as people rush to get their shots before low supplies run out. The Health Department’s Sue Denny says there’s no reason for that. She says people who don’t get flu shots should look at innoculations against pneumonia-type diseases. She says some anti-virals might do some good, but they should be taken only on the advice of doctors because some of them conflict with other medicines. Denny says she does not know how many Missourians who are not high-risk got flu shots before the shortage developed. But doesn’t think it’s very many.