Tagged: flu

Wyoming is reporting the highest rate of influenza since the swine flu epidemicin 2009. Clay Van Houten with the Wyoming Department of Health says numbers are three times as high as last year.

“A couple weeks ago we had a little over 450 cases reported,” says Van Houten, “that’s definitely more than any week we’ve had reported since 2009.”

Flu season is starting earlier than usual in Wyoming. Department of Health Spokeswoman Kim Deti says February and March are usually the peak times for the illness, and it’s not clear why the season is starting early.

Deti says everyone over the age of six months should get a flu shot. She says the vaccines are not guaranteed to prevent getting the flu, but they’re the best protection available.