For some, this is the fall season. For others, it is the start of the flu season — the peak of the year for contracting an illness that kills about 700 people a year in South Carolina.

Each year, about 4,000 people in South Carolina are admitted to the hospital for flu symptoms, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. And it is the leading cause of death for people 65 years old or older.

Last year, at least three influenza patients were admitted to the AnMed Health Medical Center intensive care unit, according to the hospital’s data.

And this year, the Centers for Disease Control is predicting a “potentially severe” season because there are three new flu strains to which people have had no exposure that may circulate, said Dr. David Potts, an infectious disease specialist at AnMed Health.

“The vaccine has three new strains in it this year,” Potts said. “But those who get the shot should be protected from those new strains.”

From now until mid-May 2009, health officials will be tracking the number of influenza, or flu cases, in the area. And local doctors, employers, the staff at the health department will be offering flu shots — encouraging people to receive this year’s version of the flu vaccine.

“This year, it seems like they’ve made a better match,” said Rachelle Shirley, with Region 1 of the state’s South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

What Shirley is referring to is that during the 2008 flu season, the vaccine was effective at combating about 40 percent of the flu viruses circulating. Typically, a flu virus is effective for 70 to 90 percent of the viruses, according to Georgia health officials.

This season, officials with the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that a significant amount of the influenza vaccine already should be available in communities across the country. The health department has ordered 266,000 flu vaccines for its clinics and medical partners.

Flu shots are now available through health department offices across South Carolina.Dr. Jerry Gibson, director of the Bureau of Disease Control within the state health department, said the best way people can protect themselves from the flu is the vaccine.

“Anyone can get the flu, even healthy people,” Gibson said.

Typically, the cost for a shot is $20 or $25. Medicare and Medicaid will cover the costs for those are eligible. Anyone who wants a shot can receive one, however, regardless of their ability to pay, according to South Carolina health officials.

Now, for the first time, the Centers for Disease Control are recommending routine vaccinations of children between the ages of 6 months and 18 years, Potts said. He said officials have noticed that the large flu outbreaks seem to start when children are infected in the classroom and then take the flu home and infect their parents.

“They are hoping it will protect the children and decrease the chance of a large outbreak,” he said.

In addition to receiving the flu vaccine, there are other measures people can take to keep themselves and others from being infected with the flu virus, said the AnMed Health infection control coordinator, Nancy McKittrick. Top on the list is good hand hygiene.

“People don’t wash their hands as often as they should,” McKittrick said. “I think that’s the mistake we make is that we don’t wash our hands as often as we should.”

And then, the common practice of covering one’s mouth or nose during a sneeze or a cough also is not good. She said people should use their arms, and sneeze into their elbow, for example. Because often times people will sneeze or cough into their hand and then touch something without ever washing their hands.

“Your hands are really the culprit,” McKittrick said.

There are also myths out there about the flu vaccine. She said a lot of people think the vaccine itself makes them sick. It does not, she said.