American Public Gets Mixed Messages on Need for Flu Vaccine.

Byline: Dorsey Griffith

Dec. 14--American consumers are hearing what sound like contradictory messages this flu season. On the one hand, they are being told to get vaccinated against the disease. On the other, they are hearing the vaccine may not protect them from this year's flu.

In a year when influenza is a mere blip on the public health radar screen, none of this would matter much. But this flu season hit several weeks early. Hospital admissions are way up, and many people already have died, including an estimated 26 children. Complicating matters, supplies of flu vaccine are running out, well before the season peaks.

The confusion has left many scrambling to find someone to give them the vaccine, and others wondering whether it's worth all the trouble.

"If they gave me statistics that show that I will not get the flu or give it to anyone else, I would get the shot," said North Highlands resident Korey Myers, who works full time caring for a severely disabled woman. "But they haven't."

Influenza experts say the vaccine's imperfections are a consequence of the chameleon-like disease itself and the race-against-the-clock manner in which vaccine is produced. But most defend the push to vaccinate an ever-broadening portion of the population, even if the vaccine is far from perfect. Though many Americans think of the…