The US flu season is off to a very early start. It’s hitting the South and West now.

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Flu season “is taking off and it’s taking off in a direction that’s only likely to increase in the next month or two,” said Dr. Fred Lopez, an infectious diseases specialist at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. flu season is off to a very early start, and it’s quickly intensifying.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday posted its latest update, reporting that seven states were reporting high flu activity last week, up from two states the week before.

The CDC also said that more than 3% of doctors’ office visits last week were for flu-like illness, signaling that flu season is really underway.

Flu season “is taking off and it’s taking off in a direction that’s only likely to increase in the next month or two,” said Dr. Fred Lopez, an infectious diseases specialist at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

“If you haven’t been vaccinated, you should get vaccinated now,” he added.

The early-season flu activity is higher than what’s usually seen at this point of the year, though it’s not clear that will mean this season will be worse than others, according to CDC’s update.

But not a good sign: The flu hospitalization rate in mid-October was the highest seen that early in an autumn in more than 15 years, noted Dr. Anna Durbin of Johns Hopkins University, during a recent media briefing.

The CDC estimates that at least 2.6 million illnesses, 36,000 hospitalizations, and 2,100 deaths so far this season are tied to flu infections.

The surge began in the nation’s South and West, and the states seeing high flu activity so far include California, Louisiana, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Washington, according to the CDC.

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