During the 2016-17 season, there were 101 flu-associated deaths in children across the county according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has already had reports of influenza in Iowa this fall. Washington County Public Health nurse Lynn Fisher explains it takes about two weeks for the vaccine to take full effect after it is administered. The IDPH recommends Iowans over six months of age receive an annual flu vaccine, including women who are pregnant as the vaccine protects the mother and the newborn.

Influenza is a respiratory illness that can cause severe illness or death, with serious complications like pneumonia. According to IDPH, the flu season in the southern hemisphere may be an indication of what the season will be like this winter, and in Australia it has been “an especially severe flu season.”