"Right now we're seeing all those numbers go up, so were expecting we're going to see an increase over the next few weeks," said Dr. Zack Moore, respiratory disease epidemiologist.
In the past few weeks, the number of patients reporting flu-like symptoms in N.C. jumped from 2.31 percent to 2.55 percent. But experts say the peak hasn't happened yet.
"It usually peaks in N.C. in late February, early March so we have a fairly late flu season here usually and that looks like what were probably going to see this year," Dr. Moore explained.
Even though the N.C. flu season is still in an upward trend, experts say it is not too late to get protected.
"The main thing we are still encouraging is for people to get flu shots," Moore said. "People tend to think that's something they have to do in October or November, but in fact, flu season has not peaked in N.C. "There's still time to protect yourself with a flu shot and there's still plenty of supplies out there."
If you're skeptical about getting a shot after learning last year's vaccine didn't offer good protection from the flu, this year is different.
"This year there seems there's a good match between the type of virus that we've seen circulating in NC and the flu vaccine so that's the good news," Moore said.
So far this year, one child has died in NC from the flu and about 36,000 die nationwide, making flu season something to take very seriously.
