flu shots

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's time for flu vaccine again and while it's important for the whole family, this year health officials have some different advice for different ages: Certain kids should opt for the ouchless nasal spray. Seniors, expect to get a new kind of pneumonia shot along with that flu jab.

HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. (AP) -- A New Jersey appeals court says a nurse was unfairly denied unemployment benefits after she was fired for refusing a flu shot.

Most of the time, exposure to influenza is most dangerous for older individuals, but this year just the opposite seems to be true.

Each year hundreds of people die from it, thousands are hospitalized.  It's one nasty bug you don't want.

People are usually very passionately for it or against it when it comes to flu shots. I'm for it. I believe in the science of it. I don't believe you can get the flu from a dead virus. I don't believe there's any medical conspiracy. I never used to get a flu shot in my 20's. It wasn't that I was afraid of them as many people are. I just never thought about it.

Symptoms of the flu don't only include a high fever, weak muscles and a sore throat. The ramifications spread to the workplace, schools, family and other segments of people's everyday lives, according to the 2013 Flu Impact Report from Walgreens.

It may feel like summer outside, but the calendar says fall, and as we head into the month of October, flu season is getting underway in the Garden State.

People with serious egg allergies may no longer have to worry about flu shots.

Health and Senior Services Commissioner Mary O'Dowd is urging all New Jersey residents to get a flu shot.