The H1N1 epidemic has raised awareness of all forms of flu. Doses of the H1N1 vaccine are limited because they're still in production, but now shortages of the seasonal vaccine are also being reported. As a result, many Americans got their seasonal flu shot as soon as possible.

Despite the fact that more doses of the seasonal shot have been shipped this year compared to any previous flu season, they seem to have gone too fast. Doctors' offices and flu clinics have both reported local shortages.

A new study suggests many of the Canadians who died of swine flu or who had to be admitted to intensive care during the "first wave" were relatively young, healthy women. The study looked at 168 patients with confirmed or probable cases of swine flu who were hospitalized in Canada between mid-April and mid-august.

The researchers found that unlike most flu pandemics that hit the very young and very old the hardest, the worst cases of swine flu are "concentrated in relatively healthy adolescents and adults."

Most teens don't reach out for help when they're trying to quit smoking, but experts have found a way to make it easy for them to kick the habit. Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found personalized telephone counseling helps teens quit.

They studied more than two thousand high school smokers, half of which were enrolled for phone counseling.

They found more than 21 percent of those in the telephone intervention group quit smoking for six straight months, compared to 17 percent of those not given any treatment.