INLAND EMPIRE – (INT) – There have been no reported confirmed cases of flu yet this season. And, health officials want to keep it that way.

The public has been riveted on Ebola and other illnesses. Officials want attention shifted to influenza which is far more likely to strike this winter.

For those who think the standard flu vaccine will protect against the entrovirus-68, Riverside County Disease Control Director Barbara Cole says “Those are two separate viruses. The influenza virus is totally separate than the entrovirus. There is no cross-protection.”

The Riverside Medical Center is leading a series of flu vaccination clinics into next month. Pharmacies throughout the Inland Empire are advertising affordable flu shots.

Story Date: October 28, 2014