We're just now beginning the flu season and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are saying this year's flu shot is not as effective in preventing the virus.

Healthcare officials say the predictions of which strains of the flu will be prevalent are off center. That’s holding course here at home as a local medical clinic network is saying they’ve seen an increase in the number of flu positive tests in patients that have received the flu shot this year compared to the previous years.

Nurse Practioner Dawn Barnes with East Texas Extended Care says even though there are reports that the flu shot is not covering the majority of strains in the community, she believes it’s still in everyone’s best interest to get a flu shot because there’s still a percentage that’s covered.

Vaccines take four to six months to make, so those predictions must be made the previous spring.

The A H3N2 virus has been most common this season. The CDC recommends high-risk individuals — the elderly and those with weak immune systems — check with their health-care professionals promptly if they develop flu symptoms because antiviral drugs work best when started in the first 48 hours after symptoms appear.