We are in the middle of influenza season, which started officially and quietly on Oct. 1. However, the New Year has brought a fair amount of influenza B to the county. Our public service announcements on the county radio station have encouraged vaccination, staying home while ill, and seeking medical care as necessary. We are now beginning to see some influenza A which can be more severe than flu B. Although we’ve had over fourty flu cases reported in the past month, only two have been hospitalized.
Statewide, over 4,000 people have tested positive for the flu and nearly 200 have been hospitalized. Four Montana adults have died from the flu this season.
In Montana our flu activity can peak as late as March and stretch into April. Because of that, vaccination is still an option. Often one strain of flu is more prevalent in the early flu season. A different flu virus will then start working through the population as the season progresses. If you have already had the flu this season, there’s still a chance you will be exposed to influenza A sometime before the end of the season.
