By Saundra Young
CNN Medical Senior Producer

Every year I get a seasonal flu shot. CNN sponsors flu clinics for employees, so luckily I never have to go "in search of.” My 12-year-old daughter always gets one too.

So the first week in October, I called her pediatrician to schedule a seasonal flu shot. I thought I was ahead of the game. To my surprise, I was told they were out of both the shot and FluMist, but that they were expecting a new shipment mid-October. Since then I have called her office once a week. Nothing. Finally last week they told me they did not know when they would get another batch, and suggested I check with local clinics and other providers such as pharmacies and supermarkets.

I visited a clinic, called numerous supermarkets and pharmacies. Everyone was out, and none knew whether, or when, another shipment would arrive.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of last week, 94 million doses of seasonal flu have already been distributed. Total production for this season is 114 million doses.

So where did all that seasonal flu vaccine go? CDC Spokesman Llelwyn Grant says the number of people getting seasonal flu vaccine this year is higher than has been seen in previous flu seasons. He attributes the numbers to all the attention given to H1N1. "People are more vigilant in getting vaccinated based on H1N1 activities. They are proactively getting ahead of seasonal flu before it kicks in. Awareness has been higher. That's why seasonal flu vaccine is moving faster than in previous years."

Grant says health officials have not seen much seasonal flu yet. A few pockets maybe, but the majority of cases are still H1N1. He says seasonal flu season generally really starts to percolate around November or December.

Unlike with H1N1, the federal and state governments are not involved in the actual purchasing of seasonal flu vaccine. Whoever orders that vaccine is doing so directly from the manufacturer. So while it may seem like a shortage, the amount of vaccine produced this year is about the same as the last few years. Still, Grant says he understands the frustration. "We are encouraging folks to continue looking. There is more to be distributed. The good news is we have yet to see any seasonal activity really manifesting itself here in the United States. That is the one good piece of news."

So, I find myself waiting for the last 20 million doses to be distributed. Coming soon, I hope, to a clinic near me. Keeping my fingers crossed that I find one with vaccine before the seasonal flu finds my daughter.

I even popped on the American Lung Association's flu clinic locator Web page. Both the CDC and Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene pushed me to their "find a flu shot site." It didn't help. Most of the clinics that did surface were for H1N1 shots only. The eight that were listed as having seasonal flu vaccine were all in Virginia. Bold type instructed me to "please call ahead to confirm availability."

Is anyone else having this much trouble finding a seasonal flu shot?

Editor's Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.

By Saundra Young
CNN Medical Senior Producer

The statistics are staggering. One in three of America’s children carry this heavy burden: being overweight or obese.

In case you were wondering just how serious this problem is, Acting Surgeon General Dr. Steven Galson says the number of children affected between 6 and 11 years old has tripled since 1980. Today 9 million children in this country are overweight or obese. That's one in three.

Surgeons general from the last four administrations gathered this week in Washington to address the nation's childhood obesity epidemic. Drs. C. Everett Koop, Antonia Novello, David Satcher and Richard Carmona were also joined by two former "acting" surgeons general and Galson. They talked about how dire the situation is and what it will take to turn it around.

"Childhood overweight and obesity are among the foremost health challenges of our time," Galson said. "Their effects permeate the United States’ health care system and will do so for decades to come. Their implications for health care policy and for health justice are enormous. So are the costs. Billions of dollars in health-care costs that will impact our entire country for the foreseeable future if we cannot turn this tide around."

The picture painted here was not pretty. And while this problem cuts across all of society, Novello, who was surgeon general under President George H.W. Bush, said minority and disadvantaged children suffer disproportionately.

We know obesity has emotional, social and physical consequences. Children are already seeing them with the early onset of many diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, including high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and abnormal glucose tolerance. According to Glason, 61 percent of obese children between 5 and 10 years old have 1 or more risk factors for heart disease already!

Koop, surgeon general during the Reagan administration, gave this warning: "If we continue on the present trajectories, obesity will replace tobacco as the Number One preventable cause of death in the United States."

Carmona, the current President Bush's former surgeon general, says the social implications of being overweight are also painful. "The psychological ramifications of being obese as a child and not going to the dance, not being able to play athletics, which we often gloss by but yet are huge if you are that child that's being ostracized or marginalized because of your obesity problem."

Perhaps even more startling, Carmona says this epidemic could turn out to be a national security issue. "Because where will those soldiers and sailors and policemen and firemen come from in the next generation that have to protect our nation, if we are telling you today that this cohort of young men and women going forward will not be physically fit and able to accept those positions to protect community and the nation."

All agreed that the challenge is monumental, that everyone must pull together - parents, educators, youth, doctors, the food industry, government, even the news media. Galson has been traveling across the country on a "healthy youth for healthy future” tour the past year, having discussions and looking at solutions. His message? "Get and stay active, eat nutritiously and encourage young people to make healthy choices."

He says reversing the cycle will be complex. Inaction is not an option; children overweight before the age of 8 are at greater risk of obesity as an adult.

Two weeks ago the Department of Health and Human Services released the first "Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans." It tells you how much physical activity you need daily, and ways to get it. The agency recommended that children and adolescents get an hour or more a day.

A surgeon general during the Clinton administration, Satcher, says there have been some successes, such as the wellness policy passed by Congress in 2004. That legislation says if a school gets funds for free breakfast or lunch – -which most public schools do–that school has to have a wellness policy in place dealing with physical activity and nutrition.

But there are successes and there are setbacks.

An epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Carmona for the first time in history, this could be the first generation of children that lives shorter lives than their parents.
All for something entirely preventable.

Are we doing enough? Or have we all been sitting idly by? What more can we do to get our kids back on the road to good health and fitness?

Editor's Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.

By Saundra Young

CNN Medical Senior Producer

I was expecting pain.  I had heard the stories - as friends, family and colleagues began weighing in, it seemed everybody had one and couldn't wait to share it with me!  The thing is, theirs were all stories of young teenagers and twenty-somethings, and mine, was, well, let's just say mine was a tale of a much, much older woman who was having her wisdom teeth extracted!

My new dentist was surprised to learn I still had my third molars at my age.  They had to come out he insisted. There was decay, and some bone and tissue damage.

And then came the stories  - of faces swollen beyond recognition, and unbelievable pain.  I was warned: "Hey, this is oral surgery. This is serious business." 

I was warned about a horribly painful phenomenon called "dry socket," the most common complication after surgery.  This occurs when the blood clot in the socket where the tooth has been pulled comes out  - theoretically if you do something like sip or suck on a straw - exposing bone and nerves.   I was told I needed to avoid dry socket at all costs.

So I did what any serious journalist in search of detailed information does: I popped online and got a crash course on wisdom tooth extractions.  (I even watched a video of an extraction on YouTube.)

It seems I really was something of a freak! In most people, wisdom teeth come in between the ages of 15 and 25. Often they’re taken out almost immediately.  Most oral health specialists recommend early removal in order to eliminate problems down the line such as an impacted tooth, trapped within the gum, which can damage or destroy the second molar, as mine apparently did. 

According to the American Academy of General Dentistry, an impacted wisdom tooth is the most common developmental ailment.  That's because they're the teeth most likely to decay because they're so difficult to reach and clean.

I found out there are some pretty serious problems tied to impacted third molars, including  bacteria and plaque build-up, cysts or tumors, infection, and jaw and gum disease.  And I was well on my way to some of these problems.  My surgeon and I couldn't understand why none of my former dentists suggested taking them out!

Maybe it’s because I never had any major symptoms.  Perhaps I'm now making up for lost time.  The surgery went well, but I'm in pain.  Of  course the painkillers help.  There's been swelling and I've been icing my jaw for days now.  I'm on antibiotics to ward off infection.    So I've spent the last three days popping pills, taking it easy and eating soft foods like mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs.  Eating hurts! 

All in all, it wasn't as bad as I thought.  I'm feeling pretty good although  today - Day 3 - is the day the major swelling is supposed to kick in, according to my dentist.  And here's something else to look forward to: Because he did only one side (top and bottom), more surgery is in my future.  I think I'm too old for this!  Or am I?

Am I truly that much of an anomaly, or are there plenty of you out there whose wisdom teeth were removed much later in life, successfully and without much fanfare?

Editor's Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.