Flu Season Is Starting Early, and in an Unexpected Place

Flu season typically crawls across the US from the South to the West Coast. This year it's moving in reverse. The HuffPost reports experts are reporting a sharp, ahead-of-schedule jump in cases in the Pacific Northwest and California; even Alaska and Hawaii are seeing an unexpected number of cases, reports NPR. "This year, it seems like we're having a flu A surge very, very early," a respiratory infections specialist at the University of Washington School of Medicine tells the site. Indeed, the Washington Post reports the Seattle Children's hospital system has seen about 150 flu cases among kids in the last two weeks; there were 10 over the same time period last year.

What that means for the overall severity of the season isn't clear yet, but the advice is. Health officials urge people 6 months and older to get vaccinated now, noting it takes about two weeks to kick in. Options include standard shots, a high-dose version for those 65 and up, a new mRNA shot for adults 50 to 64, and a needle-free nasal spray.