It’s Been a Quiet Flu Season — So Far
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iStock/Thinkstock(ATLANTA) — There’s a reason health officials say the only thing predictable about the flu is its unpredictability.
When the federal government was shut down for more than two weeks earlier this month, U.S. health officials were hampered in their efforts to monitor flu activity around the country.
Well, it turns out there wasn’t much to watch out for because there haven’t been many flu outbreaks this fall.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports there have only been isolated cases of the infectious disease in Alabama, South Carolina and Texas.
“The flu has been pretty quiet right now,” says Dr. Joe Bresee, chief of the epidemiology and prevention branch in the CDC’s Influenza Division.
But if that adage is true, it means things could change and probably will. Dr. Bresee says the flu is coming: “It’s right around the corner and we expect an increase to come in the next few weeks.”
Bresee adds that getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent the flu, and there’s plenty of vaccine available.
“We expect to have 135 to 139 million doses available, so there should be plenty of vaccine to vaccinate anybody who wants to be vaccinated,” he said.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio