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MDH: Minnesota To Have Harsher Flu Season

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- December marks the start of peak flu season.

State Health officials warn every-day spots like grocery store are common places to pick up the virus.

"Going to mall, going to store, going to church," said Doug Schultz of the Minnesota Department of Health.

The health department reports nearly 65 Minnesota schools have had outbreaks, and 185 people have been hospitalized since the fall.

Hospitals like Hennepin County Medical Center will now ask caregivers who haven't been vaccinated to wear masks when treating ill patients.

Those are stats that make shoppers like Barbara Marcil glad she got the shot.

"I do not want to get the flu," Marcil said. "I had the flu one year and I had fevers [of] 104. I was sick for five days."

Schultz says the flu season in the southern hemisphere occurs during our summer.

"So we can tell by that what is likely to occur in the northern hemisphere," Schultz said.

But that didn't work as hoped this year. The CDC reports this year's flu vaccine doesn't cover the dominant strains of the virus.

The health department says the flu shot is only 50- or 60-percent effective in fighting the strains it does cover.

Still, experts say it's the best defense we have, because each year's vaccine likely provides cross-protection, helping fight against flu viruses the vaccine wasn't designed for.

"Get your kid vaccinated, get yourself vaccinated to protect others around you," Schultz said.

The health department is advising clinics to give antiviral drug treatments to fight the flu in anyone with the proper symptoms, even if they don't test positive for the virus.

Peak flu season lasts through February, so it's not too late to get the flu shot. But it takes a couple weeks after vaccination for it to begin working and protect against the flu.

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