Flu season has only just begun in the U.S., but over half of the country has been affected by the illness which has already claimed the lives of at least 18 children. Over 2,257 people have been hospitalized as well according to a report by Daily Mail.

Health officials have stated that the flu season hasn't even hit its peak yet, and U.S. citizens should expect both numbers to get worse before all is said and done. The flu normally doesn't peak until at the earliest mid- January or February.

"It's about five weeks ahead of the average flu season," said Lyn Finelli of the surveillance and response team monitoring influenza for the Center for Disease Control's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. "We haven't seen such an early season since 2003 or 2004."

Specialists from the CDC believe the number is still accelerating and that people should take the necessary precautions to avoid getting the illness.

Over four percent of users on Flu Near You, a website/app that allows people to track where the virus is active, claim that they have or are getting flu-like symptoms.

Click here to download the Flu Near You app.

The website claims around 100 new participants join the website each week. The site feels it is important to get more users to join so that people can be more aware of locations that have the flu virus.

Around 127 million doses of the flu vaccine have been mass distributed since the season began according to Enstarz.com.

Hospitalization numbers have increased yearly, some years are higher than others however. Approximately 3,000 to 49,000 people die each year from the flu according to Counsel Heal.

Symptoms of the flu include muscle or body aches, cough, fatigue, sore throat, fever, vomiting, and chills according to Yahoo. The illness is so deadly because it can also worsen chronic medical conditions and in some cases cause death.

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