The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 1 in 20 U.S. hospital patients contracts an infection while hospitalized. To stop such infections before they start, local hospitals have developed protocols for staff, patients and visitors that emphasize the "three C's."

The Sangamon County Department of Public Health will offer flu-shot clinics at its new office, 2833 South Grand Ave. E., starting Oct. 4.

Have you ever left for work in the morning thinking you had a minor cold only to return home tired, achy and feverish?

LOVES PARK - Sheila Kitzman, a compounding pharmacist at North Park Pharmacy, makes medicine for children all the time.

WASHINGTON -- Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday the H1N1 flu vaccine "is coming out the door as fast as it comes off the production line." But at the same time, she acknowledged delays in getting a sufficient supply for all those demanding it. "We were relying on the manufacturers to give us their numbers and as soon as we got numbers we put them out to the public. It does appear now that those numbers were overly rosy," Sebelius said in one interview. "We do have a vaccine that works," she said. Sebelius said the immune response is working faster than officials anticipated.  

One can get important CDC information about H1N1 flu and other topics delivered directly to your mobile phone now. In September 2009, CDC launched a three-month text messaging campaign pilot to share important, timely health information directly to users.    More information on the program at http://www.cdc.gov/mobile/   

GENEVA -- Nearly 5,000 people have reportedly died from H1N1 flu since it emerged this year and developed into a global epidemic, the World Health Organization said Friday. Since most countries have stopped counting individual H1N1 flu cases, the figure is considered an underestimate.  

WASHINGTON -- The government now hopes to have about 50 million doses of H1N1 flu vaccine out by mid-November and 150 million in December. Doses have been arriving more slowly than had been hoped, but Dr. Nicole Lurie, assistant Health and Human Services secretary for preparedness, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that "by the end of November, I think we're going to be pretty well back on track."  

ATLANTA  -- About 1 in 5 U.S. children had a flu-like illness earlier this month - and most of those cases likely were swine flu, according to a new government health survey. About 7 percent of surveyed adults said they'd had a flu-like illness, the survey found. The information comes from a household survey of more than 14,000 adults done in the first 11 days of October. The adults were asked if they had a fever or other flu-like symptoms in the past week; a smaller number were asked about their children.  CDC H1N1 flu update: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm

SWIFTWATER, Pa.  -- The federal government originally promised 120 million doses of H1N1 flu vaccine by now. Only 13 million have come through. As nervous Americans clamor for the vaccine, production is running several weeks behind schedule, and health officials blame the pressure on pharmaceutical companies to crank it out along with the ordinary flu vaccine, and a slow and antiquated process that relies on millions of chicken eggs. Click here to learn where the H1N1 vaccine has arrived in Springfield.