LANSING (WKZO) — The CDC says the Flu season has passed its peak, but Jennifer Smith with the Michigan Department of Health says that doesn’t mean its over and the risk for infection has passed.
She says another strain could flare up and they could have another peak. Even if that does not occure, it will be a month or two before the current strains will have burned their way through the population for another year.
Some Virologists are now predicting it could be extended beyond the usual season.
The CDC says the season has been the worst in a decade, particularly for the elderly. They say the nation was hit with a “double whammy” because the H3N2 virus is a particularly vicious and virulent strain and because the flu vaccine was only 23% effective in stopping it.
They announced this week that about 2 in every thousand residents over the age of 65 ended up in the hospital because of the virus, the highest number they have ever recorded.
That’s why they say it’s still not too late to get a flu shot, particularly if you are in that elderly age group or have a chronic disease.
