BAD flu season!!!

  All the news programs were talking about flu season last night and how the numbers are off the charts. On my way to work the radio station was talking about the flu. They had a parent on the radio whose healthy college age son contracted the flu and suddenly died. Yikes!

I found Google Flu Trends, which tracks the flu. The United States is bright red-which is the "intense" category. If you want to see another site that tracks the flu, you can visit Flu near you It's a real-time tracking tool for the flu.

NBC news reports that 29 states have reported "high rates" of the flu. They report that 2, 257 people have been so sick, they have had to be hospitalized. And 18 children have died. From the flu!

They said this year the flu season has hit early, it hasn't hit this early since 2003 or 2004.  The story also says that:

.... for people who reported both flu symptoms and vaccination status, of those who got the flu, three out of four were not vaccinated, while a quarter had gotten their flu shots.

No vaccine is 100% effective, but the flu shot can offer you some protection. And it's not too late to get your flu shot. Remember that if you have asthma and get the flu, chances are you will be A LOT sicker than someone who doesn't have asthma. And there's a good chance it will turn into pneumonia. My kids have been hospitalized 12 times for asthma, almost all of those were for pneumonia.

It's very scary to watch someone struggling to breathe. Talk to your doctor about a flu shot. And take precautions-wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands!!!!