Long Lines For Flu Shots

With flu cases now reported in all 50 states and nearly half of those considered hit hard, the government is scrambling to ship 100,000 vaccine doses to combat shortages, hoping to head off what could become one of the worst outbreaks in years.

The number of states with widespread infections nearly doubled to 24 in the past week, and the season has not yet peaked nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Worried parents are rushing to find shots even though many local health departments and doctor's offices are either out or about to run out of the vaccine.

"I really was desperate," said Joy Thompson of Valencia, Calif., who recently got the shots for her two young daughters.

She found 300 people waiting to get the vaccine at her daughters' pediatrician's office Saturday, but couldn't endure the three-hour line. She later got the vaccine from her mother, who is a nurse.

In Orlando, Pamela Brady of CBS affiliate WKMG-TV reports hundreds of people waited in line Friday morning, some from as early as 3:30 a.m., for flu shots at a shopping center. It's part of a program sponsored by the station, and 2500 people were expected Friday to take advantage of it.

Schools have shut down. Emergency rooms have been filled with sick children. And doctors' offices have been forced to turn away droves of people seeking flu shots.

Some experts predict this year's death toll easily could surpass the annual average of 36,000.

CBS News Health Correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin reports that other disease experts say so far there's no evidence this will be a deadlier flu season, and if there's any good news, it's that for once, people are taking the flu seriously.

"I don't think it's a problem of overreaction," agreed Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control, on CBS News' The Early Show. "I think it's a situation where we've got off to a serious start and people are paying attention so there is a high demand for the vaccine."

Health officials are unsure why the outbreak has hit so early, why it has caused so many problems — particularly in the West — and why it seems to be so lethal in children.

States are not required to track the number of flu cases, so the exact total is not clear; however, at least 20 children have died nationwide during this outbreak.

Many cases are never classified as the flu, but doctors say they are seeing a clear increase this year.

"If it were me, I'd be on the phone to your doctor, calling around to see if you could find some" vaccine, said Dr. Randall Todd, Nevada's epidemiologist.

Nearly the entire western half of the country — California being the major exception — is now considered to have widespread flu. Last week, 13 states had widespread outbreaks.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said the government had arranged for 100,000 doses of adult vaccine to be shipped from Aventis Pasteur immediately and distributed based on each state's population. In addition, 150,000 doses of children's vaccine are expected to be shipped to the states by January.

The nation's two producers of flu shots reported last week that they had shipped their entire supply of about 80 million doses. However, Aventis had set aside 250,000 doses at the CDC's request last week when it became clear that shortages might develop.

Bianka Ortega, receptionist for After Hours Pediatrics in Las Vegas, has been turning away frustrated parents. The office does have flu vaccines left, but they are reserved for poor patients.

She said parents have been getting "a little bit irate."

"If you can't get the vaccine, it's also very important to remember that people should stay home when they're sick, not go out into an environment where they might spread flu to somebody else and do the common sense things like keep their hands clean and exercise good respiratory hygiene, cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough and that will help protect others as well," said Gerberding.

In Colorado, the good news is that the outbreak appears to be on its way out. State health officials said the flu has reached its peak in the Denver area.

"We were certainly inundated with tons of patients" in the last few weeks, said Allison Hamm, spokeswoman for Denver Health Medical Center. "It has certainly slowed down significantly."

One of the hardest hit communities was Malad, Idaho, a town of about 2,000 people near the Utah state line that virtually shut down in the past week because so many people were ill. Church services and Christmas programs were canceled, as was the wrestling match and drill team show. Even Santa had to postpone his visit with the children.

This flu season seems to be worse for children, and the CDC plans to watch flu complications among them closely. Flu and its complications are the sixth-leading cause of death nationally among children age 4 and younger, according to the CDC.

Despite the severity of the early outbreak, health experts are not ready to predict just how bad the flu season will be. The season still may peak as early as December, rather than February, which is the norm.

As for why the West is having the most cases, experts aren't sure.

"I don't have an explanation," said Lisa Jackson, an epidemiologist with the University of Washington. "I don't know if that's just a chance thing or what's going on this year."