How to protect your family during the longest influenza season of recent memory

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MADISON, Wis. – The CDC says this influenza season is now the longest in decades. Although this may be the longest, local experts say it's not as bad as what they've seen in recent years, but it's not over yet.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this year's flu season has been one of the longest since 1997, when it began keeping records, and the longest of the past decade. Health experts say that the virus has also increased much later this year compared to normal and that we will take care of it for a few more weeks.

So far this season, up to 41.3 million people have had flu symptoms, with up to 19.4 million doctor visits and up to 610 000 hospitalized.

Ellen 3, Nurse Epidemiologist at St. Mary's Hospital, tells News 3 it's now one of the strangest flu seasons she's ever seen at Madison.

"We are still seeing a serious illness in the community," said Smith. "Although it may seem that the number of cases is decreasing in number, you want to at least protect yourself and your family, and there is more than one strain of influenza, so it is important to protect yourself as much as possible and protect your family. relatives. "

While the flu season is late and lasts a long time this year, Smith says they've only seen about a third of the cases so far, compared to last year, and only the half as much as the year before.

One of the reasons for the long flu season is that two types of influenza viruses have surfaced at different times. The beginning of the season was the H1N1 virus, then the H3N2 viruses increased.

Although influenza cases are down, Smith says the virus can still be transmitted even in hot weather. This is partly why she always encourages you to get vaccinated against the flu if you have not already done so. We have checked and it is still available at many places in the community.

In addition to the influenza vaccine, Smith also encourages common sense precautions such as washing hands and staying home during illness to prevent spread.