The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit says it's not too late to get your flu shots this year.
There have been 20 confirmed cases of influenza in the region so far this year, most of them in the H3N2 strain which matches this year's vaccine.
"Our confirmed cases are H3N2 which is a good thing because the vaccine is also also a H3N2 vaccine. So the vaccine that we have distributed and given to the population matched the flu strain that is out there," says Lora Piccinin, manager of infectious disease prevention with the Windsor Essex County Health Unit.
Piccinin says this strain can be particularly serious for the elderly and very young.
"We are seeing some more seriousness in cases, we haven't had any deaths reported in our area yet but we have had hospitalizations and complications of pneumonia related to this H3N2 strain," says Piccinin.
Last year the region saw 185 cases on confirmed influenza from November until late April. Piccinin says last year the region saw a spike of cases in March but every year follows a different pattern.
"There's lots of flu season left and it runs right until the end of April. So I highly encourage everyone to go out and get the flu shot," says Piccinin.
She says it takes about two weeks for the vaccine to become effective.
