This past Saturday was a beautiful spring day in many northeastern cities. In fact the 71 degrees in Albany, NY, 69 degrees in Boston, and a record breaking 72 degrees in New York City felt more like April than January temperatures. It’s safe to say that the northeast is having an unusually warm winter. One of the effects of this warm weather trend is a delay in the way that we winterize our bodies. For example, peak flu season is usually December thru March—but the warm weather in many regions of the country has delayed the “get flu shot” alarm in many households. Health officials are concerned that the mild winter will pacify people and they will in turn be caught off-guard when flu season hits, as it inevitably will.

In other regions of the country, influenza has already struck. The Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) reports that regional or widespread flu activity has already affected Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina in the southeast region. The good news is that the flu season doesn’t peak until February and the CDC says it’s not too late to get a flu shot. The CDC includes up-to-date resources for schools at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/school/qa.htm.