NBC 6’s Johnny Archer reports on the ongoing flu season, which has seen an increase of outbreaks nationally.
The Florida Department of Health said there are more flu outbreaks being reported this season – 107 cases so far, some deadly – than in previous years.
Throughout the United States, about 12 million people have been affected by the flu this season. At least 20 children have died nationally – two of them in Florida.
"I'd say in the last ten days we've seen a spike in the number of patients coming in with flu-like symptoms," Bo Rosenblat, a doctor at Memorial Hospital Pembroke, said. "Even our own staff are coming down with flu-like symptoms. So I would say this is a pretty high spike but not the worst that we've seen."
The most aggressive strain of the flu this season, identified as Influenza A virus subtype H3N2, is partly to blame.
"Our vaccine is probably least effective against H3N2. Slightly less vaccine immunity and slightly more aggressiveness ends up being a bad year," Nicole Bouvier, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, said.
Despite this year's vaccine being only 10 percent effective, health officials recommend inoculation – especially for children, adults over the age of 65, pregnant women and people with pre-existing health conditions.
