Last flu season was light, but this year has brought with it
some "ominous signs," Fauci of the NIH said Tuesday. Flu cases
started going up early, toward the end of November and the
beginning of December, he said. "And it went up on a pretty
steep trajectory," he said. "The last time we saw that happen
that way was the flu season of 2003 and 2004, which turned out
to be a bad flu season." The type of flu that is going around is
called H3N2, which is often linked to more serious disease
compared to other flu varieties, Fauci said. But there's good
news: That type of flu matches up well to the vaccine that is
being distributed and given out throughout the United States.
People may get more complications from this particular strain of
H3N2, "which may make them ill for a longer period of time," Dr.
Michael Jhung, medical epidemiologist in the influenza division
at CDC, told CNN's Mary Snow. "But symptoms typically last up to
seven days for a normal infection, a noncomplicated infection
with influenza," he said.