Summer Olympics could be an Olympic event for measles By James Limbach, ConsumerAffairs.com With the 2012 Summer Olympics just weeks, people around the world are preparing. Athletes are putting in their final weeks of training, officials in London are getting the city ready for visitors and spectators are making travel plans. In the U.S., the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working to make sure everyone’s healthy for the big event. One area of concern is measles -- in particular -- unvaccinated travelers contracting the disease while abroad and bringing it back home. Last year, 222 people in the U.S. were reported to have measles -- due mostly to overseas travel. Read the entire article here .

By Fred Cicetti, ConsumerAffairs.com  Flu season in the northern hemisphere can range from as early as November to as late as May. The peak month usually is February. However, this coming season is expected to be unpredictable because of the emergence of the H1N1 influenza virus or swine flu. The H1N1 has caused the first global outbreak—pandemic—of influenza in more than four decades. There is concern that the 2009 H1N1 virus may make the season worse than a regular flu season. It is feared that there will be many more hospitalizations and fatalities this season. The 2009 H1N1 virus caused illness in the U.S. during the summer months when influenza is very uncommon. The 2009-10 flu vaccine protects against the three main flu strains that research indicates will cause the most illness during the flu season. The seasonal vaccine is not expected to protect against the 2009 H1N1 virus. A vaccine for 2009 H1N1 is being produced and may be ready for the public in the fall. Rea...

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer ATLANTA – In a disturbing new projection, health officials say up to 40 percent of Americans could get swine flu this year and next and several hundred thousand could die without a successful vaccine campaign and other measures. The estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are roughly twice the number of those who catch flu in a normal season and add greater weight to hurried efforts to get a new vaccine ready for the fall flu season. Swine flu has already hit the United States harder than any other nation, but it has struck something of a glancing blow that's more surprising than devastating. The virus has killed about 300 Americans and experts believe it has sickened more than 1 million, comparable to a seasonal flu with the weird ability to keep spreading in the summer. FOR COMPLETE STORY, PLEASE CLICK HERE . ~Sandy G.