Sometimes in life you simply don't have any great choices. Ask any New York baseball fan. Or football. Or basketball. Good thing we don't have shuffleboard. 

Perhaps, an even more painful choice this year (or not, depending on your value system) is what to do about the flu. This is because we have two lousy choices. Although, I would be absolutely astounded if Dr. Oz and some of the other beauties out there didn't have something to "support" your immune system. In which case, you now have three lousy choices.

The problem is the flu is really pissed off this year, and wants to take it out on your lungs. And there isn't a whole lot you can do about it. The annual vaccine, which normally is about 60 percent effective, may be as low as half that. If there has ever been a worse number than that, I'm sure not aware of it.

Before the lunatics amongst you start ranting about the massive conspiracy by the pharmaceutical industry, the government, and other sordid entities against the American people, perhaps you'd like to know the real reasons for this mess. Here's who you should really blame: No one.

It is really hard to get it right when it comes to choosing which strains of flu to include in the vaccine. This decision is made six months before the typical start of the flu season.  The decision needs to be made so early because it takes months to grow the vaccine (in chicken eggs—lots of them). 

Here's how it works. Every year,  samples of the flu virus are collected in more than 100 countries. These, along with epidemiological reports are sent one of five World Health Organization (WHO) research centers. Based on this information, the WHO recommends the three strains that should be included in the vaccine for the following winter. Individual countries may accept these recommendations, or license a different combination. 

At best, this is an educated guess. And the flu is rarely in the mood to cooperate. Scientists may select a strain they believe is most likely to cause infection only to have another strain predominate. Or they may select the correct strain, and it then mutates enough to render the vaccine ineffective. Flu is especially good at mutating, which is why another vaccine must be concocted every year. Given the problems inherent in these predictions, I think they do a pretty good job.

Good job, or not, the flu beat science this year. Although there is no official number for the percent of coverage, it will almost certainly be below 50 percent. Most likely less. 

The problem is what to do when you have a year like this. It's not pretty. The drugs designed to combat flu just don't work very well. Some doctors think they don't work at all.