Recently in Contagious Diseases Category

In collaboration with WebMD, experts from CDC will be guest blogging and helping to answer questions on WebMD's Focus on Flu blog. Anthony Fiore, MD, MPH, Medical Epidemiologist with CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, has posted blog entries with updates about the flu and strategies for health care options.

In his first blog, "CDC Update on Flu and the H1N1 Vaccine," Fiore takes on the basics, from who is most at risk for contracting seasonal and 2009 H1N1 flu to recommendations on who should be first in line to receive each of the vaccines. Fiore explains both the 2009 H1N1 and seasonal vaccine recommendations, and the differences between them.

In Fiore's next blog, "Flu Shot or Nasal Spray Vaccine?" he shares the difference between the flu shot and nasal spray vaccine. The main difference, he says, is that the flu shot is made with inactivated (killed) virus, while the nasal spray is made with a weakened (attenuated) form of the virus that is not able to actually give you the flu.

Fiore also offers recommendations on who should get the nasal spray vaccine and who should not, as well as the recommended interval between receiving the seasonal and H1N1 nasal spray vaccines, if one chooses the nasal spray options for both flu vaccines.

Fiore also discussed why pregnant women should be vaccinated. The Focus on Flu blog is scheduled to run through the end of December.