Influenza activity is increasing in Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Washington County Public Health nurse Lynn Fisher shares the symptoms of influenza, “The flu that the vaccine protects against is the respiratory illness, not the stomach bug. The stomach bug, or stomach flu, is really caused by norovirus; a different virus and there isn’t a vaccine for that. So we’re talking about the respiratory illness, and that can come on very suddenly, you can be just fine one day and the next day at 4 o’clock in the morning you wake up and you have the influenza. Usually its symptoms are a high fever, very high 102 degrees for a couple of days, extreme fatigue, runny nose, body aches and chilling that goes along with that fever. A person is really quite ill and down in bed typically for five, six days.” To help prevent the spread of illness everyone is reminded to clean their hands regularly, cover their coughs, and contain illness by staying home when you’re sick, to help prevent the spread of illness.