by Chris Conte
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Health officials said flu season has hit
hard and hit early, leaving sick patients wondering how they got sick even when
they got the flu vaccine.
"This
year everybody thinks the vaccine was a bull's eye," said Dr. William
Schaffner with Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Schaffner was
part of a team from the CDC that helped determine which flu shot would be
distributed across the country each year. He said his team typically looks to
the southern hemisphere during their winter flu season to try and predict what
strains of influenza will impact the United States in the coming year.
"Last
year we had the mildest season that we can remember. This year looks like a
brisk influenza season. The thing that makes it distinctive is – it's
early," he said.
Schaffner said
the flu vaccine being given out this year covers two kinds of type A influenza
and one kind of type B influenza, but around 10 percent of people getting sick
nationwide have a strain of the type B influenza not covered by the vaccine.
"Influenza
vaccine is a good vaccine but it's not a perfect vaccine yet," Dr.
Schaffner says.
Health
officials said it was not too late to get a flu shot this season if you haven't
already.
