Flu season off to slow start but not unusual

The Missouri Department of Health and Human Services keeps a weekly record of reported flu cases from around the state.

So far, the numbers are on the lower end of the scale, but an expert with Boone County Health and Human Services explained this is normal and the peak will come mid January.

“This is a typical season,” said Mary Martin, a community health manager at Boone County Health and Human Services. “It’s early yet, we only expect to see a few cases, and in January we’ll start to see the numbers come in.”

Four hundred cases have been reported in Missouri up until Dec. 12. There have been 32 reported cases in Boone County and 16 in Cole County.

Last year there were 7,500 cases reported by Dec. 13, and that number almost doubled the following week.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, much of the reason for last year’s spike in cases was due to a mismatched vaccine.

Martin said she usually expects a spike when students come back from winter break.

“All of the college students go home and they go home, all over the country, and some even all over the world,” she said. “We always wait until after Christmas when they come back, and then we see more cases coming out of the university.”

And though some believe that warmer weather is keeping people healthier, Martin said that’s just a myth.

“The warm weather makes us feel better and the sun makes us feel better, but influenza will come even if we live in Florida,” she said.

Here’s a link to those flu numbers and statistics. It is about one week behind for 2015, so the numbers for last week are not reported yet.

Vaccines are still available. Boone County has the flu mist available as well as the injectable vaccine.