From a public health perspective, this kind of news story is actually very helpful. The reason is that before H1N1, one of the main reasons for young, healthy p

From a public health perspective, this kind of news story is actually very helpful. The reason is that before H1N1, one of the main reasons for young, healthy people to get the flu vaccine was to protect at-risk populations through herd immunity. That is to say, you wouldn't want to give your grandmother the flu when you went home for the holidays. With H1N1, there is actual risk of serious illness or death for young, healthy people. Public awareness of this is key in increasing vaccination rates. Even without H1N1, the US government is pushing flu vaccines hard for everyone [1]. Apart from a few very rare contraindications, pretty much everyone is eligible for a flu vaccine. There are essentially no serious side effects. So, you should get your flu shot. 1: The government's goal is to have 90% of 18-64 year olds vaccinated for seasonal influenza by 2020 (http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/objectiveslist.aspx?topicid=23 http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/objec...). We are a long way away from that now, with vaccination rates for the general population around 45% (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview/nifs-estimates-nov2013.htm http://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview/nifs-estimates-nov2013.htm).