Children and teens with a cold or flu should not take aspirin for pain relief because of the risk of Reye syndrome, a rare but serious condition of the liver and central nervous system.

Vaccination is not without risk in itself, and pandemic flu vaccines have been associated with a rare neurological condition known as Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS).

SWINE flu may get the headlines; but white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that shows as a powdery pattern on the face, wings and legs of bats, is moving far more swiftly across America.