Dr. Nicholas Van Sickles, medical director of UK HealthCare's Infection Prevention and Control says the sharp uptick in cases can be chalked up to a mutation in the most prevalent flu strain.
"This year, that flu A strain, the H3N2, which is the most common one that's circulating right now, has changed a little bit in that further subtyping. And because of that, we're seeing more cases of the flu because as flu changes every year, either people haven't gotten vaccinated or haven't been exposed to it, or the vaccine is not as well matched as it could be because it changed."
Matched or not, Van Sickles and Dr. Lindsay Ragsdale, Chief Medical Officer at UK Golisano Children's Hospital says a flu shot is still your best line of defense.
"It's really still not too late, especially for children. This is helpful. They're going back to school, they're getting back to their activities after school. We're really encouraging families to still consider the flu vaccine. Every single week we're seeing increases in our flu numbers, our case numbers. So now's a great time."
In addition to the shot, health officials advise frequent hand-washing, wiping down common touchpoints like cellphones, doorknobs light switches and the like. Van Sickles and Ragsdale say if you're sick you should definitely stay home.