Ryan's District Boards

<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/vaccines-help-reduce-u-flu-cases-hospital-stays-195928409.html"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/xVpWIcwaIHPyYMO46QtrtQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9NzU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2013-12-12T195928Z_1_CBRE9BB1JJ700_RTROPTP_2_USA-FLU.JPG" width="130" height="86" alt="A nurse prepares to administer an influenza vaccine at Boston Children's Hospital in Boston" align="left" title="A nurse prepares to administer an influenza vaccine at Boston Children's Hospital in Boston" border="0" /></a>By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) - Flu shots reduced the number of U.S. flu cases and hospitalizations last year by an estimated 17 percent, highlighting the need for increasing vaccination rates, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. Vaccinations prevented more than six million cases of the flu and 79,000 hospitalizations, according to a CDC model that compared the actual number of flu cases and hospitalizations with the projected number that would have occurred had there been no vaccinations. &quot;This is by far the largest number of hospitalizations and other illnesses we've seen prevented&quot; since 2005, said CDC Director Thomas Frieden.</p><br clear="all"/>