If you managed to avoid the flu this past flu season, good for you. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the 2018-2019 flu season was the longest in a decade, lasting 21 weeks. The good news is that fewer illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths were reported this year than during last year’s notoriously brutal flu season, giving the 2018-2019 season a severity rating of “moderate.”
Still, the season began in November, peaked in mid-February, and trailed off in April, and was unique in the strains that circulated at various times. It’s believed that high early-season vaccination rates and a relatively effective annual vaccine appeared to help suppress illnesses. The CDC is already reminding people to get vaccinated ahead of the 2019-2020 season come October.
