Flu outbreak sickens 159 recruits at Texas Air Force base
What's new: Vaccination among recruits fell to about 40% after the Pentagon made annual flu shots optional.
A flu outbreak has sickened at least 159 recruits at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, with two hospitalizations reported as the Air Force works to contain the spread. The outbreak hit a basic training wing at Joint Base San Antonio, where recruits live and eat in close quarters. The Pentagon made annual flu shots optional for U.S. troops in April, ending a long-standing requirement. Air Force officials said only about 40% of trainees at the base took the vaccine after the policy changed, down from nearly universal coverage before. The service has since required flu shots for recruits at Lackland under an exception to the broader policy. A trainee, Keon McDaniel, died after a medical emergency on June 12, but officials have not linked his death to the outbreak.