Flu season isn’t over yet for New Jersey
Spring officially begins on Friday, but flu season may linger for a while, medical experts say.
According to the New Jersey Department of Health, influenza-like activity is still classified as high in all areas of the Garden State, and it's unclear what will happen in the coming weeks.
"We still have a lot of flu activity in New Jersey, but the good news is that we're starting to see decreases in the numbers, just in general, of the number of sick visits as well as the number of positive laboratory tests for influenza," New Jersey State Epidemiologist Dr. Tina Tan said
Tan is quick to point out, however, that flu is very unpredictable and "right now, we're seeing with our neighbors to the west, a lot of activity as far as flu type B is concerned."
Tan noted that influenza type B could soon spread to our region as well.
"Usually early on in the flu season we see type A strains circulating in the community, and towards the latter part of the flu season we start to see type B circulating in the community," she said. "Right now, we don't know whether or not the flu B will show up here."
She also said as long as the flu is still circulating in the state, it's not too late to get a flu shot.
"Fortunately, this year's flu vaccine does offer protection against this type of influenza," Tan said.