According to the Center for Disease Control, this year's flu season is the worst this country has experienced in years. The CDC reports that flu is widespread in at least 13 states, and only Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. have reported no cases (USATODAY.com - Flu Shot Shortage is Feared, Dec., 17, 2003). Hospitals in Arizona and North Carolina report patients swamping pediatric emergency rooms. Health departments are scrambling to get vaccines. Paper masks are being handed out in waiting rooms. Doctors in places such as the Vanderbilt Medical Center are discouraging most flu patients from visiting the emergency room because of increased wait times, the danger of increased spreading of the illness and because, according to Vanderbilt spokesman John Howser, "There's no treatment that will make flu go away."  (CNN.com - Flu Sufferers Jam Emergency Rooms, Dec. 17, 2003). January 2004