You might have noticed more illnesses this winter, with increased coughing and sneezing compared with a typical season. There’s a reason for it.

Georgia, like much of the country, is facing a particularly challenging flu season driven by one of this year’s dominant strains.

“Georgia is like most of the other states across the country right now, which are experiencing a surge in flu activity,” Julie Caldwell, senior manager of immunizations at Walgreens and longtime pharmacist, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

According to Caldwell, Georgia currently ranks at number 17 for flu activity among the states, meaning that our local problem is higher than average, and this year’s new flu strain is putting up a strong fight against people’s immune systems.

Because viruses are not fully predictable, Caldwell explained, this year’s flu vaccine was not a perfect match — as is always the case, though some years are better than others. In the meantime, the country was hit with Subclade K, a variant of the influenza A virus that has been highly mutated.

“This season, the flu vaccine isn’t specifically or 100% matched, but it still does prevent complications and provides the best protection folks can get from getting sick, being hospitalized or having complications from the flu,” Caldwell said.

Subclade K, which some have deemed a “super flu,” is characterized by fever, cough, sore throat, body aches and headaches, all common symptoms of the flu, according to Stanford Medicine. However, this variant is also leading to longer experiences with symptoms and even stronger versions of them — which is the reason for the increase in hospitalizations.

According to Caldwell, in Georgia alone there have been 46 deaths since early October related to the flu.

“The flu is different every year,” Caldwell said. “Typically with the flu, people aren’t used to having a longer recovery rate or having really strong symptoms.”

The distribution of an illness across states can be random, but Caldwell says there may be a reason Georgia’s problem is larger than most.

For one, Georgia has lower rates of vaccination than many other states, ranked 48th among them, “which is always going to lead to more illnesses, hospitalizations and complications related to the flu,” Caldwell explained.

Although we are deep into winter and the flu season, Caldwell stresses that it is not too late to get your flu vaccine for this year.

“I think that what’s happening in the flu season right now and all the activity that we’re seeing across the country with almost all 50 states having rises in cases is proof that you should get the vaccine, even though we’ve passed that October time frame when people are really thinking about it,” Caldwell said.

Flu cases will continue to show up for the next few weeks and months, she explained, sometimes leaning into spring.

“Getting the vaccination now will allow you to be protected from any further activity should the season extend longer,” Caldwell told the AJC. “It takes about two weeks for a full protection from the vaccine. So doing that as soon as possible is a really smart move.”

In the meantime, this year’s flu symptoms should not be taken lightly. Anyone experiencing severe symptoms should contact their general practitioner or seek hospital care if symptoms worsen.