Flu cases typically pick up around the holidays as people travel or spend time with family.
However, Dr. Donald Dumford, an infectious disease expert with the Cleveland Clinic, said this year has been different.
"What's different about this year is we're seeing a much more drastic rise around this time," Dumford said. "And that's probably because of a variant of Influenza A that's going around that's not well covered by the vaccine."
Check out Ohio's Respiratory Activity Dashboard.
He said the vaccine should still provide protection, helping prevent severe illness and lessen its duration.
While flu cases are on the rise, Dumford said other respiratory illnesses and norovirus are at normal levels at this time.
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