Orange County

'We do expect to have a robust flu season’: Flu strain showing up in Central Florida, doctors say

ORLANDO, Fla. — Some Central Florida doctors said they are already seeing one strain of flu appearing in the area.

“It is starting. It is trickling in and we do expect to have a robust flu season,” said Dr. Candice Jones.

This is not meant to alarm anyone, it’s just the reality of what is happening.

Read: Wearing a mask more effective than a vaccine, CDC director says

“The message here is, get your flu shot because the last thing you need is to be worrying about flu and COVID-19,” she said.

Symptoms of the flu and COVID-19 can be rather similar.

“The symptoms just overlap so much,” Jones said. “We will likely be testing for both, and what concerns me is the delay that we are sometimes seeing, at least in the outpatient settings, in getting those COVID tests back,” Jones said.

Jones said it’s important to get a flu shot now, because if you have any symptoms, you will be ahead of the game by allowing the vaccine settle into your system, which can take anywhere from two to four weeks.

Read: COVID-19 positivity: How Florida calculates its rate and why that matters

“Some people are apprehensive in the younger age which concerns me,” Jones said. “We do want the flu vaccine from six months and up.”

Jones said the time is now to get a flu shot.

The flu vaccine covers the four major strains, and one is already trickling into the area.

Katlyn Brieskorn, WFTV.com

Katlyn Brieskorn is a Digital Assignment Editor at WFTV. She joined Channel 9 in July 2019.