Just thought i would give everyone a heads up. Over the past 2 weeks there has been a dramatic rise in the number of flu cases we are seeing locally and what the CDC has been reporting across the country. Its early yet and I can not remember a year as bad as this. We are seeing a half dozen cases of culture positive ( documented) influenza daily when we usually see 1-2 cases a week this time of the year. The good news is that I have yet to see a case in anyone who was vaccinated so this years vaccine seems to be working well.

If you haven’t already gotten your vaccine you may want to do so quickly. It takes about 2 weeks to develop peak immunity. In the mean time wash your hands frequently.

Good advice, macgyver. Got mine a few weeks ago. Though of course (just in case someone reading this is confused) vaccines don’t provide 100% immunity, so best to take normal precautions even so.

I always get mine on my birthday, the first week of November. It’s become a tradition in my family. I’ve tried to expand my tradition onto my workplace, but echinacea still seems to be the choice of “medicine” among my colleagues. That, of course, makes me very upset, because as Doug already said, the vaccine only provides some immunity.

But yes, this year seems worse than others. I have seen many people getting the flu lately, many of whom ended up with bronchitis.

I got mine last month as well. Every year the local health dept. shows up at our school and this year we were all inoculated including our granddaughters. Knock on wood, I began taking the shots about ten years ago and haven’t had a case since then. It works, at least for me and the family.

Cap’t Jack

I get mine as soon as they come out (Ca state law), and make sure my family is vaccinated too! Thanks for the reminder!
(cool hat George!  )

asanta - 21 December 2012 07:35 PM

(cool hat George!  )

Thanks. 

Same here.  Three days after they were available - the first appointment available at my doctor’s.

Occam

Got mine in October. Mum’s 74 and I’m hitting 53 in a week. The flu is something niether of us can afford to get.

FYI: for those interested, check out Google Flu Trends. Right now US flu activity is spiking, particularly in the South and East.

(Though if you look at this chart a few weeks or months after I posted, it will be different, of course!  ).

Interestingly the Google Flu tool often picks up spike in influenza before the CDC data. It has a lot to do with how the data is collected. Google relies on search terms which is nearly instant, whereas the CDC data requires reports from doctors and labs which creates a little bit of a delay.

Here is the latest CDC data.