At least 136 people have died in Indiana from the flu in Indiana this flu season. The CDC says the flu is not letting up and you can expect to hear about more people getting sick and going to the hospital.
A major problem is that the vaccine this year has only been about 30 percent effective and some strains of the flu are mutating, making the vaccine less effective.
"We continue to recommend the flu vaccine, even though we know most flu vaccines have low effectiveness against H3N2 viruses," said Dr. Ann Schuchat, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control. That agency keeps up with flu data from across the country.
"There is more than one flu virus circulating this season," she said. She sadded that another reason to get the flu shot is that it may be effective in fighting off the symptoms if it's caught early enough.
The Indiana State Dept. of Health data says most of the people who have died from the flu here have been 65 or older. Schuchat said if you haven't gotten the flu, you should be on guard. It hasn't shown any signs of slowing down and more people are expected to be in the hospital.
"In the past week we have seen increased influenza-like illness activity, more hospitalizations and tragically, more flu-associated deaths."
She said hospitalizations across the country are now higher than the 2014-15 flu season, which was previously the highest season.
"We also continue to hear reports of crowded hospitals and spot shortages of anti-viral medications and rapid influenza tests. Flu activity is still high and widespread across most of the nation and increasing overall," said Schuchat.
