Lambton Public Health is reminding residents to protect themselves from the flu this holiday season.
Supervisor Dr. Erin Courtney said there are two confirmed cases already in Sarnia-Lambton.
"We've had two hospitalized community acquired flu cases," said Courtney. "Both of those cases came back as H3 and that type of influenza is actually in the flu shot, so it's looking like a good match this year."
She expects that number to increase within the next couple of weeks as we spend time surrounded by family and friends, eating and drinking over the holidays.
"It's so different every single year, we never know what it's [flu season] going to look like," said Courtney. "Typically what happens now is, with Christmas and the New Year, we always see a spike around Christmas, that's historical every year. A few basic reminders to keep your families holiday's healthy is wash your hands often with soap and warm water or alcohol-based sanitizer. You should cough and sneeze into your sleeve and get your flu shot to help your body build that immunity."
Dr. Courtney said there hasn't been a large spike in the number of confirmed cases yet, it's not too late to get the flu shot, which is available at 34 area pharmacies.
There were 46 confirmed hospitalized and long-term care outbreak-related influenza cases last flu season.
