Although influenza cases are on the rise in Virginia’s Eastern Region, they haven’t yet begun to show up in significant numbers in Gloucester and Mathews counties.

Shirley Chirch, environmental health and safety manager for Gloucester County Public Schools, said there have only been three confirmed cases of flu among students, and Dr. David J. Holleran, superintendent of Mathews County Public Schools, said there had been two cases among students and one among staff at Thomas Hunter Middle School before the Christmas break but none as of Monday.

Dr. Bill Berg, director of the Hampton Health Department and acting director of Three Rivers Health District, said that in spite of a dramatic increase in the number of flu cases in the region over the past couple of weeks, there’s no evidence yet of an increase above the normal number of cases in Gloucester or Mathews.

However, he said, "I don’t expect that will continue to be the case."

Berg said it’s not too late to get a flu shot, and suggested that anyone who hasn’t been immunized yet should get the shot while they still have the time.

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