Influenza is now an epidemic in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At least 15 children have died this year, so far, from the virus. Managers at the CDC are warning the public that flu season is just beginning, and additional cases and deaths are likely to be seen in coming weeks. Widespread cases of flu are being reported in 36 states, with high levels of the illness seen in 22 states. This later number is up from 13 states in just a week.  

Six children in Tennessee have died of influenza so far this year. East Tennessee Children's Hospital has treated 442 children for the disease in December alone.

In order to combat the disease, the CDC is advising nearly everyone over the age of six months to be vaccinated against influenza, in order to reduce the spread of the disease.

Each flu season, medical researchers need to predict which forms of influenza will primarily strike the population. This year's annual vaccine is aimed at a form of the disease-carrying organism known as H3N2. However, this variety of influenza mutated unexpectedly, becoming largely immune from the effects of the medicine.

However, the CDC is still recommending that people receive the inoculation, stating that any form of the vaccine is likely to provide a degree of protection against influenza. Complications from the disease can be reduced even when vaccines are not closely matched to the type of flu experienced by a person infected with the virus. In previous years when viruses have mutated, effectiveness of the vaccines dropped from around 60 to 40 percent.

"A flu vaccine is needed every season for two reasons. First, the body's immune response from vaccination declines over time, so an annual vaccine is needed for optimal protection. Second, because flu viruses are constantly changing, the formulation of the flu vaccine is reviewed each year and sometimes updated to keep up with changing flu viruses," CDC officials explained on their Web site.

Flu vaccines do not take effect right away, as it takes around two weeks for the human body to build up antibodies once the inoculation is provided. Therefore, the CDC recommends that people receive vaccines in autumn, before influenza becomes widespread.

Influenza can now be treated through a trio of treatments now available to people suffering from the disease. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Rapivab, also known as peramivir, to fight flu. This new drug joins Relenza and Tamiflu in the medical arsenal available to those fighting off influenza.