Every year in the fall, you start getting messages from your local pharmacy about coming in for a flu shot. Indeed, while getting a flu vaccine is super important to staying safe and healthy during the colder season when respiratory illnesses run rampant,

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. (NEXSTAR) – The flu is spreading far and wide across the U.S. – and influenza A is largely to blame.

A seasonal flu virus suddenly mutated in the summer. It appears to evade some of our immunity, has kick-started a flu season more than a month early, and is a type of flu that history suggests is more severe. The NHS has now issued a "flu jab SOS" as fears grow that this will add up to a brutal winter.

Health officials in the United Kingdom are warning that this year’s flu season for the Northern Hemisphere is looking like it will be particularly rough—and the US is not prepared.

A flu strain that emerged over the summer is causing "unprecedented" outbreaks in Japan, as well as in Canada and the U.K. The CDC hasn't provided insights on flu in the U.S. in nearly two months.

A new strain of human avian influenza, also known as bird flu, has been confirmed in Grays Harbor County, according to the Washington Department of Health.