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Flu vaccine more effective this year; milder season so far

FILE - This Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015 file photo shows single dosage syringes of the Fluarix quadrivalent influenza virus vaccine in New York. According to numbers presented at a medical meeting in Atlanta on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016, the flu vaccine is doing a better job in 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison) FILE - This Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015 file photo shows single dosage syringes of the Fluarix quadrivalent influenza virus vaccine in New York. According to numbers presented at a medical meeting in Atlanta on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016, the flu vaccine is doing a better job in 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)

By Associated Press February 24, 2016 1 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – The flu vaccine is doing a better job this year.

Preliminary data suggest it is 59 percent effective. That’s a big improvement from last winter’s nasty flu season when the vaccine was less than 20 percent effective.

Unlike last year’s vaccine, this year’s is a good match to the strains making people sick.

It’s been a milder flu season so far, though health officials said it has not yet peaked.

The numbers were presented Wednesday at a medical meeting in Atlanta.

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Online:

Vaccine meeting: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/index.html