The hope is to develop a vaccine that could give lifelong protection against a majority of flu viruses, including bird flu.

VOA: special.2009.03.04

In the meantime, the Obama administration is urging common-sense steps to prevent the spread of swine flu, including frequent hand-washing and asking flu sufferers to stay at home.

VOA: standard.2009.05.03

She did not have an infection during her pregnancy, as her doctors had prepared for, but she faced minor complications including the flu, some bleeding and physical discomfort from her growing baby.

NPR: 5-Organ Transplant Patient Gives Birth: Baby Girl

Vaccines were also dogged by safety issues, including the swine flu vaccine fiasco of 1976, and by the dubious theory of a link between autism and the mercury once used in a vaccine preservative.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Past experiments have shown it to make viruses -- including the H5N1 bird flu virus -- more likely to infect ferrets, which are commonly used in flu research.

CNN: New bird flu well-adapted to infect people