Few Cases Of The Flu Reported In The U.S.Once again, it’s that time of the year when flu cases are expected to be on the rise. According to the CDC spokesman, cases of the flu usually start rising around October’s end and reach their highest level at the beginning of the new year before gradually decreasing around March and April. According to the health officials, currently the flu activity in the U.S. is still very low. It is still too soon to celebrate since the officials have also gone ahead and confirmed that there will still be a flu season this year.

Each flu season is different

According to the officials, the reason why the flu cases are still quite low this year is simply the fact that each flu season is different. In some cases the flu season arrives quite early while in other cases it arrives much later than the expected time. The officials have also gone ahead to state that it’s too soon to know for sure the kind of flu season that is coming but the majority of the flu strains that have been observed currently are quite similar to the ones that have been used in the vaccine availed this year.

Viruses not in the Vaccine

There is very limited data as things stand and this is why it can’t be known whether or not the vaccine being issued this year will be a good match. According to the CDC spokesman strains of the flu that are not in the vaccine have been found in circulation. The predictions are also not likely to improve in terms of being able to tell how severe the flu season will be even if the flu activity eventually picks up according to the CDC.

The CDC is currently encouraging people to go and get vaccinated as this is the best solution that can be offered for now. The minimum age to have the flu vaccine is six months old and all persons above this age are advised to ensure that they get their flu shot as soon as possible. The CDC expects that there will be a total of 135 million doses of the flu vaccine available all over the country, and this is expected to suffice for all persons who will wish to get vaccinated.

There are several strains of the flu which have been detected and these include influenza A – H3N2, 2009 influenza A – H1N1 and the influenza B viruses. These have been detected in the United States and around the world. There have also been cases of swine flu, which have been recorded this year. There are 300 reported cases of the swine influenza A – H3N2 since mid-July according to the CDC. Most of these cases came about as a result of the people coming into direct contact with pigs, which means that most people still have nothing much to worry about from this front. The important thing now is to get vaccinated as soon as possible to prevent an unwelcome attack of the flu.