The flu season is in full swing here in Manitoba, but the impact hasn't been nearly as severe as in the U.S.

Across the border, a total of 37 children have died from the flu virus and about 12-thousand have been hospitalized. It is shaping up to be the worst flu season in 15 years.

There have been no flu-related deaths in children in Manitoba this year, according to Dr. Michael Routledge, Medical Officer of Health for Southern Health.

He said, while the number of child deaths in the U.S. is troubling, it's also a reminder of how aggressive some strains of influenza can be.

"Part of the reason it does make the news is because in some cases we're talking about young healthy children. I think some people have the perception that influenza really doesn't affect that group and that it's really a disease related to the elderly, which is mostly true but not entirely. So it really demonstrates the fact that influenza can be a significant illness in many population groups and sometimes in young children as well."

The vast majority of cases of influenza in the U.S. is from a particularly nasty strain of virus known as H3N2, which is associated with severe illness in young children and people 65 and older. Health officials are predicting the number of child flu deaths will likely approach, if not exceed, the 148 deaths reported during the 2014-2015 flu season.

Dr. Routeledge says getting your annual flu shot remains the best course of action for all age groups in fighting off the severe effects of influenza.

Manufacturers of flu vaccine use their best educated guess as to what strain will be prevalent and then create a vaccine to match.

"Most of the time that guess is an accurate one, particularly with the B strain. Sometimes it doesn't match up well against the H3N2, not because the guess was wrong, but because the virus mutates after the vaccine has been produced. So even though you'll see reports that part of the vaccine did not match up against part of the virus components, other parts of the vaccine matched up very well."

Anyone with questions or concerns about the flu shot should contact their health care provider or Health Links.