The fever, the fatigue, the aches and the sore throat; the influenza season has arrived in Limestone County and the rest of North Alabama.

During the week of Dec. 18 to 24, the most recent reporting period, Alabama — particularly North Alabama — along with Arizona, Georgia, Oklahoma, New York City and Puerto Rico have reported a high level of flu-like activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Meanwhile, five states have experienced moderate activity, seven low activity and 34 minimal activity.

The good news: If you haven’t contracted the flu yet it’s not too late to obtain a vaccination against it, a state health official said Wednesday.

“We are currently in the influenza season,” said Miranda Daniels, influenza coordinator for the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Influenza-like illness is defined as fever that is greater than or equal to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and cough or sore throat, or both.

She said the spread of influenza-like illness was, so far, regional in Alabama for the week of Dec. 18 to 24.

Regional spread means influenza-like illness was above Alabama’s threshold for recognized significance (3.22 percent) in at least two but fewer than six of the state’s Public Health Areas (PHAs) or there were reported outbreaks, with laboratory-confirmed influenza, within the last three weeks in the same PHAs. The regions seeing flu-like illness include PHAs 1 through 5. Limestone County is in PHA 2, which also includes Cullman, Jackson, Lawrence, Madison, Marshall and Morgan counties.

The influenza strains identified in the last three weeks in Alabama included influenza A (H3) and B/Yamagata, according to the Health Department.

See the map

Daniels said a map on the Health Department’s webpage — https://dph1.adph.state.al.us/influenza/maps/ — shows counties in five North Alabama PHAs have reported a significant number of flu-like illnesses and confirmed cases of flu during the most recent reporting period.

Significant influenza activity is based on reported influenza-like illness data or reported influenza outbreaks for the week as well as positive influenza specimens from the previous three weeks, she said.

The next reporting period is Dec. 25 to Jan. 7. The website also has a graph displaying influenza-like illness data and positive influenza specimens submitted to the Bureau of Clinical Laboratories.

The Health Department has recruited 84 health care providers to report the number of patients with influenza-like illness by age group and the total number of patients seen for the week. These providers are located in every public health area and almost every county.

There is no requirement for a positive influenza test (in the absence of a known cause other than influenza) when determining the number of patients with influenza-like illness.

What to do

If you are not sick yet, wash your hands regularly to avoid contracting influenza and also get a flu vaccine.

“We are still encouraging people to get a flu vaccination,” Daniels said.

The vaccine is available at county health departments as well as some medical offices and pharmacies.