The United States is in the midst of a severe flu season with a vaccine that offers little protection.

Former head of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Tom Frieden says, "there are great health professionals at CDC and they are dedicated to doing their jobs protecting Americans."

The flu attacks the lungs, nose, and throat. Young children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with chronic disease or weak immune systems are at high risk.

Symptoms of influenza include fever, chills, muscle aches, cough, congestion, runny nose, headaches, and fatigue. The flu is treated primarily with rest and fluid to let the body fight the infection on its own. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory pain relievers may help with symptoms.

“Basically this is a year that’s shaping up to be similar to other bad years of the flu. From everything I’ve seen although the advances are exciting we’re still a long way off,” Frieden said.

The latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows 30 children nationwide have already died from flu this year.

Adult flu cases are not a reportable disease in most states – meaning we do not yet have accurate adult death numbers. In Georgia, twelve adults have died from flu and hundreds have ended up in the hospital.

“That means hundreds of thousands of people hospitalized potentially tens of thousands of people dying from flu.”

Part of the reason flu has been so severe this year is that H3N2 is the prevalent strain. The flu vaccine is less effective against H3 viruses, which tend to cause more serious flu cases than other strains.

Even though the vaccine is not as effective as they would have hoped, the CDC says getting your child a flu shot is the number one way to protect your child and yourself from flu. Doctors say it will still ease your child's symptoms if not prevent them catching the virus.

The flu vaccine we use in this country is decided by the strains that are circulating in other countries. He says that's why it is so important to continue to track influenza around the globe.

“Flu is an example of how we’re all connected around the world,” said Frieden. “We decide what flu vaccine we’re going to use in this country by tracking what other flu strains are spreading in other countries. That’s why we need to continue to do a better job using our curretn vaccine, tweaking that vaccine to be more effective.”