The Flu situation in the U.S. has gone down below the epidemic level over the holidays. However, it has spread across 43 states and has taken a total of 21 lives of children, according to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC) reports.

CDC has put the blame on the Influenza A or the H3N2 flu strain, which generally has worse effects than other strains. To make matters more complicated , the vaccine developed for this year's strain does not perfectly match the H3N2 strain, giving people lesser protection from the deadly virus.

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Although the vaccine is not of a good match, CDC is still encouraging people to get their flu shots and get vaccinated in order to protect themselves and prevent themselves from getting infected.

The flu this year has officially become an epidemic on December 20 however, the alert has gotten slightly lower during the succeeding weeks. However, the number of states affected by the virus grew from 36 to 43 recently.

Younger children and senior citizens are more likely to be affected by the epidemic due to their weaker immune system.

According to reports, around December 27 of last year, nearly six percent of the doctors' visits were for flu-like symptoms and it is four percent higher compared to the normal baseline. The December 27 report marks the sixth week in a row that the visits related to flu-like illnesses have been above the baseline.

CDC points out that on average, the flu season goes for about 13 weeks. However, the flu season is not even halfway finished.

According to Michael Jhung, a medical officer at the influenza division of CDC, they are still urging people especially the seniors and the young children to take their flu shots. Also, people who have asthma or diabetes should take antiviral medications when they get the first symptom of flu.

Tagsflu season, Flu epidemic, CDC, children, flu shot, flu vaccine, H3N2, influenza, Flu