Jennifer Garner Puts Flu Shot in the Spotlight

By E.J. Mundell
HealthDay Reporter
Wednesday, November 14, 2007; 12:00 AM

Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

TUESDAY, Nov. 13 (HealthDay News) -- She has won a Golden Globe (for Alias) and the heart of husband Ben Affleck. But actress Jennifer Garner's big concern this flu season is to protect the health of the couple's 2-year-old daughter, Violet.

"One in three children get influenza, and more than 100 children die every year from this disease -- these are facts that no mother or parent wants to hear," said Garner, 35.

She spoke to reporters in New York City on Monday as the new national spokeswoman for the American Lung Association's Faces of Influenza education campaign.

"I want to help make sure that all moms across the country understand that influenza is serious and that vaccination should be a family priority," said Garner, who moved to big-screen stardom in films such as Daredevil, 13 Going on 30 and Catch and Release, and is currently debuting on Broadway opposite Kevin Kline in Cyrano de Bergerac.

Garner is just one of a number of Americans, famous and non-famous, who are lending their voices to the Faces of Influenza campaign. Actor Dean Cain, 41, who soared to fame as TV's Superman in Lois & Clark in the 1990s, was also on hand to urge people to get the flu shot this year.

Cain, a former pro footballer, said even healthy adults can be laid low by the virus. He's especially vulnerable, because he also has asthma, he said.

"Asthma puts me in a high-risk group, because if I were to get the flu, guess where it's going -- right to my lungs," Cain said. A prior bout of flu once left him unable to work for almost two weeks, he said, but "my number one concern is the health of my family" -- specifically, son Christopher, age 6.

That's because children aged 6 months to 6 years of age remain especially vulnerable to flu, according to Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer at the American Lung Association. Other high-risk groups include the elderly, but all Americans over 50 are urged to get an annual shot, as are people with chronic illnesses, Edelman said.

Add to that the people who come in close contact with either the very young and/or elderly, and that means that two-thirds to three-quarters of all Americans -- about 220 million people -- should get vaccinated against the flu, he said.