The influenza season is arriving early this year. Experts say flu cases began showing up on the West Coast in September.
Ryan Malosh is director of the Immunization Division at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. He said emergency department visits for flu-related illness are now starting to tick up in Michigan, and that means people who haven't gotten their flu shots yet should do it now.
He said it takes about two weeks after getting the flu vaccine for the body to develop antibodies and provide protection against influenza.
"When cases are really spiking, the last thing you want to do is be caught without its protection, so it is definitely a good time to get it," Malosh said.
The flu vaccine doesn't always keep people from getting the flu. But it can significantly reduce the severity and duration of symptoms, along with the risk of hospitalization and death.
Children are among the groups that are most vulnerable to flu. In the 2025-26 influenza season, more than 1,600 children in Michigan were hospitalized due to flu, and 13 children died, according to state health department data.
Other groups that are particularly vulnerable to flu include pregnant women, elderly people, and people with immune system disorders. But even healthy adults can become very ill from flu.
Dr. Adam Lauring, the chief of infectious diseases at Michigan Medicine, said matching the vaccine to the variants that are likely to be in circulation each year is not easy work. This year, the vaccine does include the H1N1 variant that is most in circulation, but early reports indicate it may have a mutation that makes the vaccine less effective, especially for younger people.
"We don't know yet," Lauring said. "We won't know until later in the season. But I think the message still is, go out and get your vaccine."
