Wholistic Herbs Inc. of Dallas, Texas, announced that it has recalled all quantities of one fluid-ounce Koff & Kold spray with herbal extract and Kold Sore spray with liquid sea mineral distributed from March 2009 through February 2012 because they are not sterile and pose a possible health risk.

You might think that doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff would be among the first to get vaccinated against the flu. But too many don’t, even though hospitals can be breeding grounds for the virus and patients there are especially vulnerable to it, according to a report released today by the nonprofit National Business Group on Health. To counter that problem, a coalition of groups led by the NBGH, including the American Hospital Association and supported by Consumers Union, have started an initiative to increase flu-vaccination rates among hospital staff.

That’s the finding from a prospective observational study published today in the International Journal of Obesity, comparing the protective antibody levels and T-cell responses to the seasonal flu vaccine in overweight, obese, and healthy weight adults.

Insight Pharmaceuticals has recalled 34,092 bottles of Nostrilla, a nasal decongestant (oxymetazoline) spray used to relieve nasal discomfort caused by colds, because the spray may contain bacteria.

Two children have been infected by new types of swine flu. Unlike flu viruses in the past that have jumped from pigs to humans, these have a gene from the pandemic 2009 H1N1 (swine) flu. The CDC is continuing to investigate, but so far no other cases have been reported.

Flu vaccination has been historically low for pregnant women, despite the long-standing recommendation that pregnant women get vaccinated. And that troubling trend hasn’t changed much in recent years. According to survey data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today, only about half (49 percent) of pregnant women were estimated to have been vaccinated during last year’s flu season.

The Oreck Corporation has agreed to stop making “allegedly false and unproven claims” that its Halo vacuum and ProShield Plus air cleaner can prevent illness, in a settlement announced today by the Federal Trade Commission. Oreck also agreed to pay the FTC $750,000.

The Supreme Court unanimously sided yesterday with investors suing Matrixx Industries, makers of Zicam, for failing to reveal indications of the over-the-counter cold remedy's dangerous side effects--including loss of smell.

The H1N1 (swine) flu virus that emerged in Mexico and California in 2009 and quickly spread across the globe was downgraded from a pandemic by the World Health Organization this week. “The public health emergency of international concern, recommended following...