Flu season finally arrives, CDC reports

I finally got my flu shot a couple of weeks ago. I kept getting those colds that have been going around, I learned thru a bad experience not to get a flu shot if I'm already under the weather. I think it was a case of the combination revving up my immune system in hyperdrive.

http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/13/10399564-flu-season-finally-arrives-cdc-reports

By Linda Carroll 2/13/2012

The flu season may finally be picking up steam after the slowest start in nearly three decades, a new government report suggests.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports an uptick in the number of samples testing positive for the virus -- 10.5 percent in the first week of February versus 7.6 percent the week before.

That suggests that the flu season is just off to a late start, CDC researchers say. Interestingly, it’s only the second time in 29 years that the percentage of respiratory samples testing positive remained under 10 percent through January.

"The peak of flu cases most commonly occurs in January or February, but the timing can vary significantly year to year," says Dr Otto Yang, professor of medicine, division of infectious diseases, at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Flu season generally hits as early as October and can continue as late as May.

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If you still haven’t gotten your flu shot this year, get vaccinated right away, the CDC recommends, and Zimmerman agrees.

“This is really the last chance to get vaccinated,” he says. “It takes anywhere from one to two weeks for the vaccine to become effective.”

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