Flu season usually peaks in winter; however, the best time to prevent infection is before the virus appears in a community.
“The best time to protect yourself against influenza is before we see it start circulating in large amounts,” says Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, a pediatric infectious diseases physician with the Mayo Clinic Children’s Center. “We are starting to detect cases in different parts of the country.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports influenza A as the dominant strain of flu virus in the U.S., though the strain may change over the flu season. Flu activity has been reported as low, but is beginning to increase.
“Now is the perfect time to go and get vaccinated. It takes about two weeks after you get your vaccine for your body’s immune system to mount a good antibody response. You need to factor that time into it as well,” she says.
After two mild seasons of influenza infection, Dr. Rajapakse says that there is a caution of a more challenging one with higher rates of illness.
“One of the things that we look at is what happens in the southern hemisphere. Sometimes this can help us understand what we may expect,” Dr. Rajapakse says. “Last year, during their flu season in Australia, they saw some of the highest rates of influenza that they’ve seen since 2019. And that makes us feel cautious going into this flu season that we may end up seeing high rates of influenza this year.
“It’s all the more reason for people to ensure they get their flu vaccine. It’s one of the safest and most effective ways to prevent flu illness and infection. And especially since we might be in for a bit of a rough flu year.”
According to Dr. Rajapakse, many people did not have the flu in the last two years due to low circulation of the virus, and there is more vulnerability to getting infected this season if they do not get vaccinated.
