Flu Season Begins In Arkansas
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
Flu season has begun in Arkansas, and health
officials are urging residents to get their influenza vaccines.
Arkansas is among five states where the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention says the virus has emerged.
The flu is already widespread in Texas, and sporadic outbreaks
are in Arkansas, Arizona, Louisiana, Nebraska and New York.
Arkansas Health Department spokesman Ed Barham says October and
November is the best time frame for getting a flu shot.
Influenza is a contagious respiratory disease. About 36-thousand
people in the United States die each year from the illness.
In Arkansas, flu season continues through March, but a person
can contract the illness any time of the year. So far this fall,
Barham says the department has gotten reports of the flu from eight
counties -- Desha, Faulkner, Lonoke, Miller, Perry, Pulaski,
Sebastian, and Washington.
