For a widespread declaration, Shelton said, at least half the districts in the commonwealth have to confirm the presence of flu through hospital emergency room records. The Kern County Public Health Clinic, 1800 Mt. Vernon Avenue, offers them for $9. "Were only talking about one strand that is in the flu shot". Australia had a late flu season with mostly an H3N2 strain. Of those 250 centers, its Virginia locations are experiencing the highest rates of ILI.

He urges anyone with flu symptoms, such as a sore throat or fever, not to visit friends and relatives in long-term care facilities, hospitals or those with underlying health conditions. According to GCPH officials, getting a flu vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and your family from this serious disease.

And finally, if you can, stay at home if you're sick. The flu is a serious disease.

Central Illinois has been hit particularly hard this flu season, with Litchfield schools being forced to shut down last week due to a high number of absences.

In the past, it was only recommended that certain members of a population get the flu shot: the elderly and those with certain medical illnesses that were thought to most likely have a worse prognosis if they caught the flu. Although the flu virus typically peaks between December and February in the US, previous year was one of the latest peaks on record and did not occur until mid-March. The United States looks internationally to predict what our flu season will look like.

Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System say we're still probably years away from that because the virus itself continually changes. This report also includes granular analysis of the market share, geographic regions and revenue forecasts and of the North America Flu Vaccine market.

"Regardless of how effective a vaccine is, vaccination is the best protection against the flu".

Since September, there have been 106 lab-confirmed flu cases in the province, two intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and two outbreaks in long-term care facilities (LTC).

The vaccine's effectiveness was limited in Australia, only being about 10 percent effective against Influenza A (H3N2), which was the predominate virus experienced there.

At the time, public health said this flu season is expected to be more severe than usual based on the amount of flu activity seen earlier this year in the southern hemisphere.

"I highly recommend the vaccine", Shelton said, noting that all the health district offices still have plenty of the vaccine available. "If you haven't got your flu shot already, go ahead and get your flu shot", said Kent Donahue with the Florida Department of Health.