Commonwealth Conversations: Public Health

Weekly Flu Report, February 2, 2012

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This week's flu report shows that rates of flu-like illness in the state continue along at a relatively stable clip. With the recent warmer temperatures, it's easy to forget that winter -- and the current flu season -- still have plenty of ways to go before they're over. Protect yourself and your family from getting sick this flu season by getting a flu shot. It's absolutely not too late, so call your health care provider or visit this online searchable database to find the flu vaccine nearest to you.

Weekly Flu Report, January 26th, 2012

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This week's flu report shows that rates of flu-like illness in Massachusetts continue on their steady pace as January comes to a close. But if this flu season is like most others, we haven't seen anything yet -- flu rates around here have a tendency to rise much higher in late February and March, and flu continues to spread in our communities well into spring. Flu vaccine is still readily available, and you can find yours by contacting your health care provider or searching for a flu clinic near you on this online database.

Weekly Flu Report, January 19th, 2012

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This week's flu report shows that rates of flu-like illness in Massachusetts continue to remain steady as compared to previous weeks. But remember, flu season hits its peak in February and March -- and even then flu still gets passed around well into spring. So there's no time like now to get vaccinated. Call your health care provider or search for a flu clinic in your area on this searchable database.

Weekly Flu Report, January 12, 2012

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This week's flu report shows that the rate of flu-like illness in Massachusetts has continued at a relatively stable pace since last week's snapshot. Then again, flu season in New England doesn't usually reach its peak until February and well into March -- so if you haven't gotten your flu shot yet, there's still time. Call your health care provider or search for a local flu clinic using this searchable database.

Weekly Flu Report, January 5, 2012

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Happy new year, everyone! With the new year comes this week's flu report, which shows an uptick in the amount of flu-like illness that we're seeing in the state. If this flu season is like most others, we're going to see these numbers continue to rise well into February and March. What does that mean to you? Well, if you haven't gotten your flu shot yet, there is still time to protect yourself and your family from getting sick with the flu. Call your health care provider to make a vaccination appointment, or find a local flu clinic on this searchable database.

Weekly Flu Report, December 30, 2011

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This week's report shows that flu-like illness continues to hum along at a fairly low level, as we enter into the new year; however those rates arelikely to rise significantly as our flu season in New England kicks into high gear during January and February. Make a new year's resolution that's actually easy to keep -- get a flu shot while the coast is still clear. Flu vaccine continues to be available by calling your health care provider or looking for a local flu clinic at this online searchable database. Best wishes for a safe and restful New Year's weekend, and see you in 2012!

Weekly Flu Report, December 22, 2011

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Rates of flu-like illness continue at relatively low levels, according to this week's report. But winter is officially upon us, and we can expect these rates to climb as we head into January and February. The best way to protect yourself and your family is to get a flu vaccine. It's absolutely not too late -- find a local flu clinic at this searchable online database or call your health care provider today.

In the meantime, a brief program note: next week's flu report will be published on Friday, December 30th. After that, we'll return to publishing on Thursdays as usual. 

Best wishes to you and yours this holiday season! 

Weekly Flu Report, December 15, 2011

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This week's flu report indicates that levels of flu-like illness in Massachusetts continue to be relatively low. It's the lull before the storm, though -- we can expect these rates to rise as we head into the thick of flu season. The good news is that there is still plenty of time to protect yourself and your family from the flu, by getting vaccinated. And there's more flu vaccine available this year than ever before. Make an appointment with your health care provider, or search for local flu clinic locations at this online database.

Weekly Flu Report, December 8, 2011

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This week's flu report shows that rates of flu-like illness in the state remain at a relatively low level, which is about normal for this stage of flu season. But we can expect these rates to rise as we continue into the new year, and with the holidays soon upon us, now is a great time to go ahead and get vaccinated. There is more flu vaccine available this year than ever before -- call your health care provider to make an appointment or search within your community to find a local flu clinic using this online search tool.

Weekly Flu Report, December 1, 2011

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This week the activity level has been raised to local, which is what we would expect to see at this time of year. This means that there has been an increase of flu-like illness as well as laboratory confirmation of influenza in the last seven days. There couldn't be a better time to get a flu shot to keep yourself and your family safe and healthy this flu season. There's more vaccine available this year than ever before, and you can find yours by calling your health care provider, or by searching this online flu clinic database for community-based flu clinics in your area.