Winter Safety Tips

Protect your family by getting everyone over 6 months old the seasonal flu vaccine, recommends Jon Abramson, M.D., chair of pediatrics at Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem, NC. Talk to your pediatrician or go to familiesfightingflu.org to find a clinic that offers the flu vaccine. These days that may not even mean getting pricked. Here's what form of vaccine your family can have, and when:

• Under 6 months: No vaccine yet, but parents should get the flu shot or FluMist nasal vaccine (if they don't have other health issues) to help avoid passing on the virus to their baby.

• 6 months to 2 years: Flu shot only.

• 2 years and up: Flu shot or FluMist.

• 2 years and up (with asthma or immunity issues): Flu shot only.

• If you're pregnant: When expectant moms get the flu shot, they decrease the chance their babies will contract the flu in the first 6 months of life (when they're at greatest risk).