It's not too early to get flu vaccine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants you to start thinking about the winter flu season.

Curtis Allen, CDC spokesman, urged people to get their flu vaccine now. "The ideal thing to do is to get the flu vaccine as early as possible," he said.

With influenza activity typically peaking in January or February, many patients wait until November to get the vaccine, according to Allen.

But by that time, some doctors' offices may run out of supply. And if you get the vaccine now, you are covered for a longer period.

Getting vaccinated on the earlier side could prove to be especially important this year because the CDC recently expanded its recommendation for vaccinations to children up to their 19th birthdays, with the exception of infants younger than 6 months and those with serious egg allergies.

Dr. Chip Harbaugh of Children's Medical Group expects a surge in demand at the practice's two large metro Atlanta offices, which typically administer 16,000 flu vaccines.

About 145 million doses of the flu vaccine — which include the flu shot and nasal-spray flu vaccine — will be shipped out this flu season, up from 113 million last year, according to Allen.

Last year, the flu shot was a bit offtarget — a good match for only about 40 percent of flu viruses. Typically, a flu virus is effective for 70 percent to 90 percent of viruses, according to the CDC.

But even when the vaccine is a mismatch, doctors say the vaccine can prevent hospitalizations and deaths from flu-related illnesses.

Randi Meyer of Dunwoody, Ga., is getting an early start on getting flu vaccines for the family. She recently had her 9-month-old baby Abbi get a flu shot, and she plans to have her two older kids soon get the nasal mist spray. In the past, she's had to wait because her doctor's office was temporarily out of supply.

"We want to keep [the flu bug] out of the house, " she said.