An uncommon number of hospitalizations due to flu have already been observed throughout the state of Wisconsin, causing state and campus officials to advise early vaccination.

Tom Haupt, influenza coordinator with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, said that 16 people have been hospitalized because of the flu this season, an uncharacteristically large number for which no cause has yet been determined.

“It’s not uncommon to have one or two, but this larger number could be a result of a number of things,” Haupt said. “We haven’t determined whether this even means the flu season will be worse than normal, it could just have peaked earlier on. Just because the beginning of the season has been abnormal doesn’t mean it will be overall.”

Haupt said a disproportionate number of hospitalizations so far have been in the 65 and older demographic, but that a few this season have been pediatric. According to Haupt, the flu will generally effect the very old and the very young more strongly than it does younger, college-aged adults.

Craig Roberts, an epidemiologist with University Health Services, said UW does not usually have to hospitalize because of flu, because generally flu is not as serious in young adults. Roberts also said that there have not yet been any confirmed cases of influenza on campus and the number of people displaying influenza-like symptoms has been normal so far this season.

Haupt said flu season usually starts in the fall so this is not an abnormal time to start seeing influenza viruses around the state, but that this is an abnormal time to begin to see large numbers of hospitalizations. Generally, flu season peaks at the beginning of the new year in January or even later.

“The most important way to prevent flu is by getting a flu shot every year,” Roberts said. “It’s the single best way to reduce the risk.”

University Health Services provides free flu shots, and Roberts encourages students to get the vaccination now, before flu season reaches its peak. Some strains of influenza, including H1N1, can and have affected college-aged students in large numbers.

Haupt said that if this strain is as prevalent as last season, it will be especially important for college students to have gotten a flu shot in the fall.

UHS has already given more than 6,000 flu shots, Roberts said. Health Services gives out flu shots for the benefit of the entire campus, and it is important that students take advantage of that so as not to get sick.

Roberts said that besides getting vaccinated, it’s also important to display good personal hygiene with regard to flu season. Haupt said that coughing into your elbow instead of your hand is a simple trick that can drastically reduce the spread of flu.

“Hand washing, covering your cough, these are all easy and standard ways to prevent the spread of flu,” said Roberts.