Current Events in December 2014

Dream On Me of South Plainfield, N.J., is recalling about 10,000 play yards.

The play yard’s rails can collapse, presenting a strangulation hazard to young children.

No incidents or injuries have been reported.

The recall includes Dream On Me Incredible two-level deluxe adjustable height play yards with model number starting with 436A, 436B, 436G, 436O, 436P and 436R. The play yards, made with a steel, powder-coated frame base with rolling, hooded casters, have a fabric and mesh covering that comes in a variety of colors.

The play yard includes a changing top, a toy bar with soft toys for entertainment, a side pocket for storage and a carrying case. “Dream On Me” is printed on the bottom left-hand side outside of the product. The model number is printed on a label attached to the play yard’s mattress. The play yard can be folded for storage.

The play yards, manufactured in China were sold online at Amazon, Kohls, Toys R US, WalMart, Wayfair and other online retailers from March 2010, through January 2014, for about $60.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled play yards and contact Dream On Me to receive a free repair kit.

Consumers may contact Dream On Me toll-free at (877) 201-4317 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday.

Ford Motor Company is recalling 36,888 model year 2005-2011 Ford Crown Victoria, 2005-2011 Mercury Grand Marquis vehicles manufactured March 23, 2004, to August 30, 2011, and 2005-2011 Lincoln Town Car vehicles manufactured March 8, 2004, to August 30, 2011, and on which the upper intermediate shaft was serviced during the course of safety recall 13V-385.

Improper servicing of the upper intermediate shaft could cause the shaft to separate, which can then result in a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.

Ford will notify the owners of vehicles whose repair records reflect that the upper intermediate steering shaft was repaired during the course of a prior recall.

Dealers will inspect and replace the upper immediate shaft if necessary free of charge. If the steering column lower bearing has separated, a retainer clip will be installed. The recall began November 17, 2014.

Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 14S25.

For years doctors have known that obesity is a strong link to cardiovascular disease, and with it conditions like hypertension, or high blood pressure.

Now, doctors are learning more about why carrying too much weight contributes to high blood pressure, a major risk for stroke and heart attack.

An international team of health researchers has published findings that focus on the role of leptin, a substance produced by fat cells.

Leptin is key

It turns out that leptin levels in the body are significantly elevated following weight gain. The increase in leptin acts in the brain to increase blood pressure.

The researchers reached their conclusion when they ran a series of experiments on both animal and human subjects. First, they set up roadblocks in the brain to keep the leptin signals from getting through. They even went so far as to remove leptin receptors from the brain.

Interrupting that communication had a dramatic effect. It reduced both high blood pressure and obesity.

80% of hypertension cases

The research team maintains as much as 80% of common hypertension is linked to excess body fat. This study breaks new ground because it describes how obesity raises blood pressure.

More importantly, it could lead to new approaches for treating both conditions.

"Our data suggest that pharmacological approaches based on altering the effect of leptin in the dorsomedial hypothalamic region of the brain, could potentially represent a therapeutic target for the treatment of obesity induced hypertension and potentially could be exploited to alleviate the incidence of obesity induced cardiovascular diseases," said Professor Michael Cowley, of Australia's Monash University.

Translated, that means it may be possible to produce a drug that would stop leptin from telling the brain to raise the body's blood pressure. If so, it would come as welcome news to millions of Americans.

Epidemic of hypertension

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates some 67 million American adults – about 31% of the adult population – have high blood pressure and only about half of them have their condition under control.

The condition affects men and women more or less equally over their lifetimes. However, for people younger than 45 years old, the condition affects more men than women. For people 65 years old or older, high blood pressure affects more women than men, the CDC says.

Because it is so closely linked to heart disease and stroke, more than 348,000 American deaths in 2009 included high blood pressure as a primary or contributing cause, working out to about 1,000 deaths a day.

In addition to heart-related illness high blood also pressure increases your risk for kidney disease.

Natural remedies

High blood pressure is usually treated with medication but changes in lifestyle are also very effective in bringing it under control. A healthy diet, regular exercise and maintaining a normal weight will do as much as anything to keep your blood pressure under control.

How high is high blood pressure? Recently, there has been some disagreement about that in medical circles. We recently looked into that question here.

Amazon's newest feature – no, make that Amazon's newest experience, because that's the terminology Amazon's “Media Room” uses in its PR marketing writing – will apparently introduce the possibility of haggling into Amazon's online marketplace:

Amazon.com today [on Dec. 9] announced the ‘Make an Offer’ experience that allows customers to negotiate even lower prices on thousands of items. Expanding on Amazon’s traditional fixed price model, the new pricing feature allows customers to offer to buy items at even lower prices. … more than 150,000 items from sellers on Amazon are enabled with the ‘Make an Offer’ experience across Sports and Entertainment Collectibles, Collectible Coins and Fine Art. …

If done right, this could indeed prove useful for those wishing to sell or buy antique, collectible or secondhand items on Amazon. Whether you call it a “feature” or “experience” – the press release uses both – Amazon says it will work this way:

Sellers enable the ‘Make an Offer’ feature for items to show customers they are willing to negotiate for a lower price than the price listed. When selecting ‘Make an Offer’ on an item’s product detail page, a customer can enter and submit a new price of their choosing. The seller will receive the customer’s lower price offer through email, at which point the seller can accept, reject or counter the offer. The seller and customer can continue to negotiate through email until the negotiation is complete. When a seller accepts a customer’s offer, the customer is notified and can place the item into their shopping cart at the agreed upon [sic] new price for checkout and purchase.

However, Amazon's example seems to assume only one potential buyer at a time would make an offer on a given item. It doesn't say whether sellers will be able to see offers from more than one buyer at a time, though it does specify that items will not be sold in an open-auction format.

It also says that sellers have up to three days to respond to a buyer's offer, which when added to shipping time means that, however successful the make an offer feature proves in the future, it might have arrived on the scene just a little bit too late for buying this year's Hanukkah and Christmas gifts.

Uncle Sam wants his bite out of your retirement savings.

And to make sure he gets it, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is reminding taxpayers born before July 1, 1944 that they generally must receive payments from their individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) and workplace retirement plans by Dec. 31.

These RMDs, or required minimum distributions, normally must be made by the end of the year. But a special rule allows first-year recipients of these payments -- those who reached age 70½ during 2014 -- to wait until as late as April 1, 2015 to receive their first RMDs.

That means that those born after June 30, 1943 and before July 1, 1944 are eligible for this special rule. Though payments made to these taxpayers in early 2015 can be counted toward their 2014 RMD, they are still taxable in 2015.

Who must take an RMD?

The required distribution rules apply to owners of traditional IRAs -- but not Roth IRAs -- while the original owner is alive. They also apply to participants in various workplace retirement plans, including 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans.

An IRA trustee must either report the amount of the RMD to the IRA owner or offer to calculate it for the owner. Often, the trustee shows the RMD amount on Form 5498 in Box 12b. For a 2014 RMD, this amount was on the 2013 Form 5498 normally issued to the owner during January 2014.

The special April 1 deadline only applies to the RMD for the first year. For all subsequent years, the RMD must be made by Dec. 31.

So, a taxpayer who turned 70½ in 2013 (born after June 30, 1942 and before July 1, 1943) and received the first required payment on April 1, 2014 must still receive the second RMD by Dec. 31, 2014.

Calculating the RMD

The RMD for 2014 is based on the taxpayer’s life expectancy on Dec. 31, 2014, and the account balance on Dec. 31, 2013. The trustee reports the year-end account value to the IRA owner on Form 5498 in Box 5. Use the online worksheets on IRS.gov or find worksheets and life expectancy tables to make this computation in the Appendices to Publication 590.

For most taxpayers, the RMD is based on Table III (Uniform Lifetime) in the IRS publication on IRAs. If the taxpayer turned 72 in 2014, the required distribution would be based on a life expectancy of 25.6 years. A separate table, Table II, applies to a taxpayer whose spouse is more than 10 years younger and is the taxpayer’s only beneficiary.

Though the RMD rules are mandatory for all owners of traditional IRAs and participants in workplace retirement plans, some people in workplace plans can wait longer to receive their RMDs. Usually, employees who are still working can -- if their plan allows -- wait until April 1 of the year after they retire to start receiving these distributions.

Employees of public schools and certain tax-exempt organizations with 403(b) plan accruals before 1987 should check with their employer, plan administrator or provider to see how to treat these accruals.

The state of California is entering the fourth year of its historic drought, and the San Diego County Water Authority has proposed a bill before the state legislature which, if passed into law, would require homeowners' associations (HOAs) throughout the state to let homeowners have artificial lawns in their front yards.

Replacing thirsty genuine lawns with waterless fake ones would seem like a no-brainer when “reducing water use” is the goal, yet most HOAs throughout the state ban artificial turf.

The state legislature passed similar proposed bills in 2010 and 2011, but then-governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the 2010 bill and current governor Jerry Brown vetoed the next one.

However, despite recent rains and even flooding in parts of California, the statewide drought has grown considerably more severe in the years since that 2011 veto.

In 2014, California declared an official state of emergency over the drought, and a variety of water-conservation measures went into effect throughout the year, including a bill which the legislature passed and the governor signed into law this past summer, forbidding HOAs from penalizing homeowners whose lawns turn brown during drought conditions.

In light of these factors, supporters of the bill hope that this time, it will successfully make it into law, and California residents who live under HOAs will have the legal right to put synthetic grass in their front yards, in lieu of any plants requiring regular watering.

Bad service or a defective product can quickly drive consumers to the nearest online review site, with unpleasant consequences for the business that came up short.

But, a new study finds, companies that practice corporate social responsibility -- by giving to charity and supporting local causes -- are more likely to be forgiven. 

Writing in the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, researchers say that corporate social responsibility (CSR) - such as donating money to build a new children's hospital or implementing onsite daycare to accommodate parents - can act as an insurance policy against failure.

"Whereas most studies have focused on reactive strategies, such as apologies and compensation, little is known about the effect of proactive strategies, such as CSR, on consumer behavior following negative events," said Jeff Joireman, marketing professor at Washington State University and lead author of the study. "If CSR buffers firms against service failures, firms may be more willing to adopt preemptive CSR initiatives that maximize return."

The paper is the first to test the effectiveness of value-aligned CSR in response to service failures.

Benefits confirmed

The researchers conducted two studies. The first study revealed that customers are less likely to experience anger and spread negative word of mouth following a service failure when a firm engages in high levels of environmentally focused CSR that aligns with consumers' environmental values; for example, allocating 15 percent of profits to a campaign to promote safe drinking water.

"We found that when a firm donates money to environmental causes, environmentalists 'cut the firm slack' following a service failure, but non-environmentalists don't," said Joireman.

The second study explored the benefits of CSR policies offering customers choice over the firm's allocations. Results showed that a CSR policy that offered customers a choice over the CSR allocations enhanced consumers' perceived value alignment with the firm, reduced negative word of mouth and increased positive word of mouth and repurchase intentions.

"While apologies, compensation and proactive approaches to service failures can yield more satisfied and less vengeful customers, they do little to benefit a broader range of stakeholders," Joireman said. "In contrast, value-aligned CSR with choice is an effective approach to dealing with service failures and also yields positive societal outcomes."

The researchers' efforts coincide with a growing movement to understand what companies can do - before customers complain directly to the firm - to promote more favorable responses to service failure.

Apparently Americans aren't finding cereal as magically delicious as they did back when Lucky Charms cereal was in its heyday. Cereal lovers' ardor has cooled a bit compared, especially in the last year.

In a quarterly report that came out in September, General Mills reported that sales for its U.S. cereal business, which is made up of such brands as Cheerios, Lucky Charms, and Wheaties, dropped 9% from a year ago.

Kellogg is also a little soggy. The maker of such classics as Frosted Flakes, Rice Krispies, and Fruit Loops said their cereal segment in some markets was "challenging."

Apparently people are eating more yogurt and breakfast bars. Also there are no more Saturday morning cartoons that sold the stuff like, well, like hot cakes.

But a resurgence of sorts may be starting in other corners of the food business, as a few companies are bringing the oldies but goodies back. Mars reintroduced crispy M&Ms and Burger King brought back a 40-year-old hoagie, the Yumbo.

Now cereal lovers from the 90's can recreate their morning childhood experience with the comeback of Kellogg's French Toast Crunch. Perhaps this will wake up the cereal business for General Mills.

“We have been overwhelmed by the consumer conversations, requests and passion for the cereal to come back,” General Mills marketing manager Waylon Good said in a statement. “We value our fans and are so excited to be able to bring it back for them.”

A Facebook memorial page was set up to bring the sugary syrupy cereal back. There were at least five petition campaigns on Change.org, supposedly launched by those pining for a return to the days when breakfast cereal was both crunchy and gooey. 

One of the petition organizers was Maryssa Lovejoy of Sebastopol, Calif., who urged General Mills to "recontinue selling French Toast Crunch." She didn't get any signers. She only got 50 signatures. (Sometimes it's more about who you know.)

At any rate if you are a fan of French Toast Crunch it will be back on the shelves starting in January.

A federal class action suit filed in San Francisco last week accuses Comcast of forcing its residential customersto bear the costs of building and maintaining Comcast's for-profit network of public wi-fi hotspots.

It's no secret that Comcast's plan for public wi-fi entails piggybacking on residential routers (as opposed to costlier-for-them options, such as building a network of transmission towers). In other words: your home router becomes a public wi-fi spot, although in this context, “public” does not mean “free,” merely that anybody with the right subscription credentials can access it.

Last March, we told you how Comcast's then-newest Xfinity routers automatically set up a second wi-fi network -- wide open and available for anyone within range. But Comcast said at the time that your residential network would not be in any way affected by the public network going through your router, and Comcast executive Tom Nagel told the Chicago Tribune that “They'll look like two separate networks and they'll act like two separate networks …. Any use on the public side doesn't impact the private side.”

Not true, suit claims

The class-action suit filed against Comcast last week basically alleges that such reassuring claims aren't true. Courthouse News reports that on Dec. 4, lead plaintiff Toyer Grear sued Comcast on the grounds that it “has externalized the costs of its national wi-fi network onto its customers,” according to the lawsuit. These costs allegedly include electricity: Grear's lawsuit says the public-hotspot routers use considerably more electricity than the old private-only routers, resulting in electric bills up to 30 or 40 percent higher than before, which the lawsuit calls “a cost borne by the unwitting customer.”

The complaint also says that tests of the actual routers and their total energy consumption suggests that “Comcast will be pushing tens of millions of dollars per month of the electricity bills needed to run their nationwide public wi-fi network onto consumers,” according to court documents. The lawsuit also alleges that home wi-fi customers whose routers also power public hotspots suffer slower home connections and increased security and privacy risks, due to the countless strangers who are using their home routers.

Comcast has not commented on the suit, which seeks a declaratory judgment, an injunction, restitution and damages for violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act and California's Unfair Competition Law.

Holiday shoppers are relying on online reviews to a greater extent than ever before, a new study finds. Research from Influence Central finds 85% of women consumers say they consider these e-commerce reviews extremel or very important when making a purchase.

The research also found more than 90% of consumers saying that an online review is more important than input from a salesperson. Moreover, after reading an online review and deciding to make a purchase, nearly 80% of consumers buy the product online.

Additional findings:

• 88% of consumers consider online reviews very influential when purchasing a new product from a brand with which they’re not familiar.
• Even when purchasing a new product from a brand they already know, 67% of women consumers still consider online reviews very influential.
• The top online site for checking reviews? Amazon, on which 90% of consumers consider online reviews determinative.
• For the 43% of consumers who check online reviews for items they’ve purchased before, they do so to see if others have had a similar experience and also to see if there is a better product option.
• Moreover, consumers consider themselves savvy discerners of reviews, with 97% saying they can tell almost all of the time the credibility of a posted review.
• 3 key determinates of trust for an online review: how much the person sounds like me, amount of detail in the review, and noted as a verified purchaser.

Amazon, which has increasingly come to dominate niches ranging from books to bookends, also emerges as a giant in online reviews. The study found 48% of consumers consider reviews on Amazon to be extremely important, followed by another 42% who consider them to be very important. In addition, more than 80% of consumers consider the reviews on Amazon to be extremely or very credible.

Rather than go to a specific retail store site for online product reviews, 68% of consumers go to Amazon instead. Similarly, 68% reported that they trusted product reviews on Amazon more that product reviews on a retail store site, such as Target.com or Walmart.com.

Researchers from academia and the pharmaceutical industry came together last weekend to share informationabout novel targeted therapies for increasing the survival rate among leukemia. The results should provide new hope for patients battling the disease.

The 56th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Francisco focused on treatments for the toughest cases – patient populations with historically poor prognoses.

In recent years, the odds have dramatically increased in favor of patients with leukemia, except for some more vulnerable subgroups of patients, including elderly patients and patients with aggressive genetic mutations. Most of the ASH studies specifically address these groups.

Two studies suggest that combining treatments can be effective in treating newly diagnosed young or elderly patients with acute leukemias. Other evidence shows that adolescents and young adults may respond better to treatment with a chemotherapy regimen used first in pediatric patients rather than with standard adult regimens.

Progress

The depth and breadth of the studies presented suggests researchers are making progress in battling not only leukemia but cancer in general.

“This group of studies represents important progress on our continued quest to develop new therapies and to maximize use of existing therapies to yield improved results for patients with leukemias, particularly those with aggressive disease that is resistant to current approaches,” said David Steensma, MD, a faculty member in the adult leukemia program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Doctors at the conference said they want to better understand how to tailor treatment approaches to each different type of leukemia, with the goal of improving long-term outcomes.

T-cell reprogramming

One leukemia treatment appears to have made great strides since we first reported on it last year. The treatment showed “highly promising” results in children who were treated in a pilot study.

This unique procedure involves removing the patient's T-cells from their blood, re-engineering them and injecting them back into the blood stream. T-cells, the workhorses of the body's immune system, are reprogrammed to attack B cells, other immune cells that become cancerous in specific leukemias such as ALL. These reprogrammed cells function as cancer hunters, killing the leukemia cells that normally escape regular T cell surveillance.

Researchers say 92% of the 39 children receiving bioengineered T-cells had no evidence of cancer at one month after treatment. In some cases they were still cancer free after 2 years.

Exciting results

"As we continue to follow children in this study, we see exciting results for patients who have exhausted their other treatment options," said study leader Stephan A. Grupp, a pediatric oncologist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The treatment was used on children suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a highly aggressive cancer and one of the more common forms of leukemia striking children.

Of the 39 children treated in the Pennsylvania study, 36 had complete responses one month after treatment. Of those 36 patients, 25 remained in remission at a follow-up of 6 months after treatment.

While the treatment results were promising, they weren't perfect. There were 10 relapses among the 36 patients with complete responses and 5 of the relapsed patients died.

However, 9-year old Emily Whitehead, the first child to receive this experimental treatment more than 2 years ago, remains healthy and cancer free.

Ford Motor Company is recalling 113,418 model year 2014 Ford F-150 and Flex vehicles manufactured March 1, 2014, to May 31, 2014.

The vehicles were manufactured with a reduced clearance between the seat frame and the seat track assembly. This can cause the Occupant Classification System (OCS) to inaccurately register passenger weight and improperly suppress the passenger front airbag when the passenger seat is occupied by an adult passenger.

Improper suppression of the passenger airbag increases the risk of an injury to the seat occupant in the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the front passenger airbag.

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will widen the gap between the seat frame and seat track assembly and recalibrate the seat OCS, free of charge. The recall began November 25, 2014.

Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 14C10.

Hyundai Motor America is recalling 42,925 2009-2011 Hyundai Genesis vehicles manufactured April 30, 2008, to November 21, 2010, and 2011 Hyundai Equus vehicles manufactured July 31, 2010, to November 21, 2010.

Due to a circuit failure, the stop lamps in the affected vehicles may not illuminate. A following vehicle may not recognize that the vehicle is slowing or coming to a stop if the stop lamps do not illuminate as expected, increasing the risk of a rear-end crash as a result.

Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will repair the stop lamp switch circuit, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule.

Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-714-865-3920. Hyundai's number for this recall is 125.

Nissan North America is recalling 133,592 model year 2012-2014 Nissan Juke, 2012-2013 Infiniti M56, QX56, and 2014-2015 Infiniti Q70, and QX80 vehicles.

The fuel pressure sensors may not have been sufficiently tightened during production. As a result, the fuel pressure sensor may loosen with vehicle usage and cause a fuel leak. A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source could cause a vehicle fire.

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pressure sensors, as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on or before January 26, 2015.

Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

Dynamic Tire Corp. is recalling 17,369 Towmax STR tires, size ST225/75 R15 manufactured June 15, 2014, to October 14, 2014.

The affected tires may have the incorrect load capacity and inflation pressure stampings. The misinformation on the label could lead a driver to overinflate the tires, increasing the risk of a tire failure and raising the risk of a crash.

Dynamic will notify owners, and dealers will replace all eligible tires, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin December 10, 2014.

Owners may contact Dynamic customer service at 1-905-595-3593.

Volkswagen Group of America is recalling 7,062 model year 2013-2015 Beetles manufactured June 13, 2013, to July 3, 2014.

The glass sunroofs may break when the vehicles are operated over a hard road surface or strike a pothole, injuring occupants with falling glass. A sunroof break during vehicle operation also increases the risk of driver distraction and a resulting vehicle crash.

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the sunroof, free of charge. VW intends start its recall campaign on or about December 19, 2014.

Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-822-8987. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 60B9.

American Honda Motor Co. is recalling 10,076 model year 2014 Grom125 motorcycles manufactured June 12, 2013, to September 24, 2014, and 2014 Forza-NSS300 and NSS300A motorcycles manufactured June 18, 2013, to May 21, 2014.

The resin bracket inside the fuel pump may swell, interfere with the impeller, and potentially lead to a fuel pump failure. This could cause the motorcycle to stall, increasing the risk of a crash.

Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pump with an updated fuel pump, free of charge. The recall began November 28, 2014.

Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-310-783-2000. Honda's number for this recall is JL1 NSS300 (Forza) and JL2 Grom (Grom125).

BMW of North America is recalling 223 model year 2014 i8 vehicles manufactured from May 16, 2014, to September 16, 2014.

A bolt used to attach a ground cable between the tank and the vehicle chassis may not have been properly welded during manufacturing. An inadequate weld could cause a fuel leak. In the presence of an ignition source, a fuel leak could lead to a fire.

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the fuel tank if necessary, free of charge. The recall began in November 2014.

Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 orby email at CustomerRelations@bmwusa.com.

Early data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggeststhat the 2014-2015 flu season could be severe.

“I think it's just getting kicked off but we see already that in several states there's widespread activity so we're expecting it to ramp up rather quickly,” Dr. Michael Martino, medical director at AFC/Doctors Express in South Bend, Ind., told ConsumerAffairs.

AFC/Doctors Express operates urgent care facilities nationwide and sees lots of patients who have come down with the virus. So far Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, Puerto Rico, Louisiana and Alaska have seen widespread flu outbreaks but Martino expects other states may quickly join them.

If you haven't gotten a flu shot yet, there's good reason to do it soon. The CDC says so far this year seasonal influenza A H3N2 viruses have been most common. During years when they are predominant resulting illnesses are more severe, increasing the number of hospitalizations.

Vaccine doesn't cover all viruses

Making matters worse, this year's vaccine – which has to be produced well in advance of the flu season – covers only about half of the active H3N2 viruses in the vaccine. But Martino says that's no reason to skip the flu shot.

“In a normal year getting a flu shot might reduce your risk of getting the flu 70% to 80%,” he said. “It's going to be a little less than that this year but there's no question it will help avoid getting sick, and reduce the severity of the flu if you happen to get it.”

At the CDC, director Dr. Tom Frieden says however severe the season turns out to be, Americans need to be prepared.

“We can save lives with a three-pronged effort to fight the flu: vaccination, prompt treatment for people at high risk of complications, and preventive health measures, such as staying home when you’re sick, to reduce flu spread,” Frieden said.

Holidays increase flu risks

Since the vaccine takes about 2 weeks to become effective, getting vaccinated this week is your last window of opportunity to protect yourself before the holidays. And that's important because each year, the holidays seem to produce a multiplier for the flu virus.

“We're traveling, so we're exposed to people from a wider area,” Martino said. “We have increased traffic in public areas so there's increased exposure. And we have close contact with a lot of people, whether it be hand shaking, hugging and kissing relatives – and those are all ways to get exposed to the flu.”

Prevention tips

Even if you get a flu shot, Martino says it's important to take simple precautions during flu season. They include:

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.
• If possible, stay home from work, school, and errands when you are sick. You will help prevent others from catching your illness.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick.
• Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces at home, work or school, especially when someone is ill. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.

If you get sick, get treated

If, despite everything, you do get the flu Martino says you can reduce the effects of the illness if you seek treatment quickly.

“It's very smart to go to your doctor or seek urgent care treatment within 48 hours of developing flu symptoms,” he said. “Drugs like Tamiflu are very effective and can shorten the duration and severity of the flu and helps prevent complications.”