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It’s the most wonderful time of the year — the time when the flu makes its presence known in the United States. You may not have given influenza much thought, but that’s OK — health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been doing it for you. They say the virus had been lying low through October, but that’s changed since early November. So far, the dominant strain of influenza here is of a sort that usually produces more misery. It’s also the type that’s less vulnerable to flu vaccines. Even so, health experts recommend that you get your annual flu shot (or nasal mist), if you haven’t done so already. (Kaplan, 12/7)

The children were the first to get sick. They spent Thanksgiving with sore throats and chills and fevers. By the end of the long weekend, the adults who had gathered for the family’s holiday meal in Phoenix were feeling flu symptoms, too. “We were all together for Thanksgiving, and the little kids got sick, then the adults got sick,” Stephanie Gonzalez told CBS News. “It traveled through our family. Everybody kind of got over it. Everybody was fine.” Everybody but Alani “Joie” Murrieta. (Wootson, 12/7)