BARNSTABLE – The Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment is reminding Cape Codders that it’s not too late to get a flu shot.
The department’s Public Health Nursing Division reports it still has the flu vaccine in stock and is available to give flu shots to any residents looking for one.
Appointments can be made by calling 508-375-6617.
The continental United States has been blanketed by the flu over the last three weeks and Cape Cod seems to be following a similar trend. Two weeks ago, 1 out of every 15 doctor visits was for flu-like symptoms. That’s the highest level since the swine flu pandemic in 2009.
The same virus was the dominant flu bug last winter, when the flu season wasn’t as bad. Researchers are not sure why this season, led by the same bug, is so much more intense.
Some believe that many of the people getting sick this year managed to avoid infection last year.
Another explanation may be some degree of mutation in the virus that hasn’t been detected yet, according to Dr. Dan Jernigan, with the CDC.
Nationally, hospitalization rates for Baby Boomers has been unusually high, according to CDC officials.