Flu season may peak in three weeks

7:11 PM, Feb 14, 2012   |    comments
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BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - The flu season is off to the slowest start in three decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But get ready for an uptick.

Last week, for the first time this year, the CDC found 10-percent of patients tested positive for the flu, which is an indication flu season is beginning.

Cases of the cold and flu have been mild this year compared to last year. Dr. Pat Courneya, a family physician, said warm weather could be a factor but also because more people have had the flu shot.

He warns that while the weather has been unusual, the lack of winter related illnesses is not.

"When you look back over the last 30 years...it's not terribly unusual for things to be pretty quiet and then begin to get very active later on in the season and that may be the case this year," he said.

Courneya expects the flu to peak in the next three weeks.

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