The winter flu season is off to its earliest start in more than 15 years.
Toledo-Lucas County Health Commissioner Eric Zgodzinski says there are already more than a dozen known cases in Lucas County.
"This year so far there's 17 that we have of reported hospitalized patients for flu. Last year at this time it was ten. The year before that it was 28. So, every year is a little different," said Zgodzinski.
Most of the patients are between the ages of 18 and 64.
The number of cases are higher than last year, but overall the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows Ohio as being one of the states with minimal flu activity.
Brian Snyder, a Certified Nurse Practitioner at the ProMedica Urgent Care in Perrysburg, says it could be related to more people walking in to be vaccinated.
"The population that I see primarily at Perrysburg, we've seen a lot of people coming in for vaccinations: children, adults, older adults and so forth. Haven't seen much diagnosed influenza. A lot of influenza-like symptoms that people are coming in to have evaluated. But I think we're fortunate that we haven't seen many positive cases of influenza because of the population of people coming in for the vaccination before they're ill," said Snyder.
Snyder also says the most vulnerable include children under the age of two, older adults over the age of 65 and those who have other diseases or chronic illnesses.
However, the flu does not discriminate against anyone.
"Flu does affect more the very young and the very old. But somebody who is in good health can get the flu and still succumb to it. So it's just not something that you want to just take lightly. Even if you get the flu, if you've ever had the flu, you never want it again," said Zgodzinski.
Therefore, the vaccination is the only way to reduce contracting the virus.
The health department says that's true even in past years when the vaccine hasn't worked as as effectively.
"With regards to after you have influenza, it's the antivirals that people often times think of. Tamiflu is one of the name brands. Those are not for everybody and those have much more severe complications and likelihood of severe complications than the vaccination itself," said Snyder.
Health experts say it's not too late to get a vaccine. They're urging people to at least consider reaching out to a doctor for professional advice.