Flu Season Begins in NJ

WNYC News | Jul 12, 2010

New York, NY —

New Jersey's flu season has officially begun.

Hackensack University Hospital spokesmen say a 9-month-old Bergen County boy was diagnosed with type-a influenza, marking the state's first case of the year.

Health officials said New Jersey is among the last states in the country to report a flu case. Flu season usually starts in October and runs through March. Gary Munk, Director of Clinical Virology at the Hackensack Hospital speculaqted that the state's warmer-than-normal weather may have kept the virus from spreading earlier.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 5 percent to 20 percent of the population get the flu in a given year and 36,000 people die of the virus.

CDC spokesman Curtis Allen said it's not too late to get a flu shot.

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