Some experts predicting an early flu season

Weiser residents who took advantage of a parking lot flu shot clinic offered by Family Medical Center in Weiser on Saturday didn’t even have to get out of their vehicle.
 The medical clinic, which is owned by Weiser Memorial Hospital, had a supply of about 100 flu shots for anyone who drove up.
 All medical providers in Weiser have the 2019-20 flu vaccine. Along with the regular flu shot, there is a high dose flu vaccine for people over age 65.
 Weiser physician Dr. Lore Wootton, with the Two Rivers Medical Clinic, said last week that she was not aware of any flu cases yet in Weiser.
 She did get an email from the CDC that health officials are concerned about an early flu season. There are scattered reports of flu activity already in some locations in the U.S.
 The exact timing and duration of flu seasons can vary, but influenza activity often begins to increase in October and peaks between December and February, although activity can last as late as May, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
 With a few exceptions, the CDC advises that everyone six months of age and older get a flu shot in October. It takes about two weeks for the body to build up an immunity after receiving a flu shot. The vaccinations are updated according to the strains that most likely will circulate around the U.S.
 While the flu can cause various symptoms from a cough and sore throat to fatigue and body aches, it can be much worse.
 The flu can range from a mild illness to severe, especially in those who are at a higher risk for flu complications.
 For the 2018-2019 U.S. flu season, which started Oct. 1, 2018, and ended May 4, 2019, preliminary numbers from the CDC estimate there were nearly 42.9 million cases of flu, up to 647,000 hospitalizations and up to 61,200 flu deaths.
 Idaho’s 56 flu-related deaths last season was the third most severe in a decade.
 Last year’s flu season turned out to be the longest in a decade in the U.S. at 21 weeks. The CDC said two waves of flu – H1N1, followed by H3N2 – swept across the country from October 2018 through May 2019.