Vero Beach and Indian River County have been lucky this flu season – so far.

Even as the nation suffers through the worst outbreak of influenza in almost 30 years, according to a statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, with the viral disease overwhelming emergency rooms in parts of the Southeast, New England and the Midwest, hospital officials here say they have not seen a big surge.

Kelley Barbati, director of nursing for the Emergency Department at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital, told Vero Beach 32963 the hospital hasn’t seen a significant increase in hospital admissions.

The same is true for Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital, according to Emergency Department Medical Director Dr. Robert Ford, “We’ve had nothing out of the ordinary for this time of year,” he said.

Barbati added a cautionary note: “There is still much time left in the flu season, and this could change. A mid‑winter wave tends to peak in January-February and lingers into March,” she said.

New flu cases spiked nationwide over the Christmas holiday when one third of all people tested nationwide turned up positive. At least 15 million people have had influenza this season, with 180,000 hospitalizations and 7,400 deaths from flu since Sept. 28, according to the CDC.

There is some good news along with more bad news about this year’s flu season according to doctors.

The good news: This season’s dominant influenza strain does not seem to be a particularly severe one.

“While we are seeing increased cases of influenza, the data does not show that these influenza virus infections are causing more severe disease following infection with this ... [variant of the] H3N2 influenza virus,” said Ted Ross, Ph.D., director of vaccine research for Cleveland Clinic.

Additional bad news: “The influenza shots that were delivered to hospitals and pharmacies in early Fall 2025 ... are not an optimal match” with the flu strain that is making most people sick, according to Ross. “The virus evolved from the strains that circulated last season.” 

Doctors have two main pieces of advice for the remainder of the flu season: Get a flu shot, even though the medicine isn’t as precisely targeted as scientists and manufacturers hoped, and, if you are infected, get treated as soon as possible after symptoms appear.

Effective flu treatment must be started right away to be effective, according to Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital infectious diseases specialist Dr. Kruti Yagnik.

“Home tests are definitely helpful,” she said. “They allow patients to test themselves as soon as symptoms begin rather than having to wait for an appointment. A positive at-home test allows patients to connect with their healthcare provider sooner – via telehealth, patient portal or in person. The provider can then prescribe antivirals based on the test result and symptoms. Antiviral treatment has the greatest benefit when it starts within 48 hours of flu symptoms beginning.”

The variety of antivirals to fight flu is limited.

“The most commonly used one is oseltamivir (Tamiflu),” Yagnik said. “There are other antiviral drugs called zanamivir, peramivir and baloxavir, but they are not used as frequently.”

Millions of Floridians get their annual flu shot as recommended in the fall, but to produce all those doses, scientists must develop the vaccine months in advance based upon their best guess of which flu strains will dominate by the time winter hits. Some years that guess is right on the money, while other years unexpected strains show up in a big way.

This year was a bit of a swing and a miss in terms of vaccine design, but “the available flu shot still offers protection against severe disease and hospitalization and reduces transmission of the virus from person to person, particularly to people who are immunocompromised, the elderly, children and people with heart disease or diabetes,” Ross said.

Flu cases are expected “to rise in the months of January and February, so there is still time to get an influenza shot to protect yourself, your family and friends,” Ross added.

Yagnik agreed. She said despite this year’s flu shot not being ideal, it is still worth it to get stuck because “Flu season can last into the spring (March-May). Even if it doesn’t prevent you from getting the flu, getting vaccinated can help prevent severe illness, hospitalization and even death.”