January and February are peak months for the flu, according to health secretary Dr. Rachel Levine.
"We have seen 6,400 cases of the flu. More than 4,000 of those in the last two weeks. We've had 8 flu deaths, although none in pediatric patients," she said.
She says more and more cases will become apparent in the coming weeks, then it will taper off, and could stick around for months.
Levine explains that what might appear as a cold, but mixed with a touch of diarrhea, or a fever, is not a cold.
"You won't have a fever with a cold. You won't have those body aches and muscle aches and fatigue with a cold. So that's what distinguishes the flu from a cold, and the symptoms that we're seeing are what we typically see during flu season each year in Pennsylvania," she explained.
Levine adds it's still not too late to get a flu shot, which is not only for your own protection, but it's also for the protection of your family and community.