Washington (H24N). Experts are getting together this week to try to head off what could be a major health threat this year: a scarcity of flu vaccine that's delayed vaccinations nationwide.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has called a special meeting today to talk strategy. The session comes as hospitals, clinics and doctors nationwide cope with what could be a one- or two-month delay in the delivery of flu vaccine supplies.

In July the CDC warned health care workers to expect "lower than anticipated production yields" for this year's supply of flu vaccine, a deficit that could lead to delivery delays and "substantially fewer total doses of vaccine" available for distribution than last year. Officials blame the lack of vaccine on unexpected difficulties in cultivating the A Panama (H3N2) strain, a new strain of the influenza virus included in this year's vaccine. Regulatory problems between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and some pharmaceutical companies have also contributed to the delay.

The vaccine shortfall means health care workers have to put at-risk groups at the top of the list. Those include people age 65 and older, nursing home residents with chronic conditions, anyone with a history of pulmonary or cardiovascular disease or a compromised immune system, and pregnant women in their second or third trimester. Officials say anyone who works in the health care field and routinely comes in contact with high-risk patients also should get vaccinated.

"We're not in a crisis, so people shouldn't panic," said Carol E. Rose, president-elect of the Pennsylvania Medical Society. "We just want those at the highest risk of complications resulting from the flu to have access to vaccines."

The CDC says mass immunization programs, usually launched in late September or early October, should be put off until early or mid-November. But experts say that delay may open a window of opportunity for the flu bug – it takes two weeks for the vaccine to take hold – and pose a health risk for many who might not have gotten sick this year.

Influenza is a serious disease that usually spreads through the air, entering the body through the nose or throat. Most people who come down with the flu will get sick for a few days and then recover, but many require hospitalization, as many as 100,000 in the United States alone each year. Some 20,000 will die from the flu or its complications. Doctors say flu vaccines are effective in preventing the disease 70 to 90 percent of the time. But they admit it's always a challenge to keep up with the virus since it mutates each year, requiring updated vaccines.

One simple but often effective method to keep the flu at bay is frequent hand washing. And experts say that anyone who already has the flu should cover the nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing to keep the virus from spreading.

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