STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 If you haven\u2019t yet prepared for flu season, now is the time to start.<\/p>\n
Seasonal flu viruses are detected year-round in the United States, but the flu is most common during a certain time of the year \u2014 during flu season.<\/p>\n
The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and sometimes the lungs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>. It can cause mild to severe illness, and sometimes lead to death. <\/p>\n The illness is believed to be spread mainly by tiny droplets made when people with the flu cough, sneeze, or talk.<\/p>\n The CDC stated that the exact timing and duration of flu seasons may vary, but activity typically begins to increase in October.<\/p>\n Most of the time, flu activity peaks between December and February. <\/p>\n The overall health impact \u2014 such as infections, hospitalizations, and deaths \u2014 of flu varies season to season. The CDC collects, compiles, and analyzes information on flu activity year-round in the United States to produce FluView<\/a>, a weekly surveillance report, and FluView Interactive<\/a>, which allows for more in-depth exploration of flu surveillance data.<\/p>\n According to CDC data over the last 40 years, flu activity most often peaked in February, followed by December, January, and March.<\/p>\n Flu activity can last as late as May.<\/p>\n The CDC stated that the best way to prevent the flu is by getting a vaccine each year. It\u2019s recommended to get the flu shot by the end of October.<\/p>\n People who have flu often feel some or all of these symptoms:<\/p>\n Fever or feeling feverish\/chillsCoughSore throatRunny or stuffy noseMuscle or body achesHeadachesFatigue (tiredness)Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to note, the CDC said, that not everyone who has the flu gets a fever.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 If you haven\u2019t yet prepared for flu season, now is the time to start.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7524,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-7523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}