With flu season at its peak in Illinois and the illness hitting levels not seen in in at least six years, the Kane County Health Department is advising that is not too late to get your flu shot.

Flu vaccine is available at many pharmacies, grocery stores and health providers, the Kane County Health Department said in a release, adding that anyone 6 months and older should get a flu shot to protect themselves and their family against influenza.

The flu season typically runs through May, with activity peaking in January and into February. This season, however, the spike began early — in December, according to health officials and Google.org’s Flu Trends, which boasts that it uses aggregated Google search data to estimate flu activity throughout the nation.

The Kane County Health Department offers a flu shot finder map at kanehealth.com/flu_shots.htm.

Before Christmas, Patch began reporting that health officials were urging people to get vaccinated. If you are considering getting a flu shot, check this map to find out where, besides your own doctor’s office, flu vaccines are available

Kane County Health Department said in its release that the number of visits to the county’s emergency rooms for influenza-like illness dipped slightly from Dec. 30, 2012, through Jan. 5, 2013. Health officials say that only people with severe respiratory illness who have trouble breathing need to visit a hospital emergency department. Even then, Kane County Health Department recommends first contacting a health professional, since most people with the flu simply need to stay home, rest and ride out the illness.

Flu can make even the healthiest person seriously ill, the health department said in advising vaccines for most people. Vaccines take about two weeks to build up the antibodies your body needs to provide protection.

The department advises calling your doctor if your symptoms, which can include fever, cough, sore throat, runny/stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue, continue to worsen.

The health department said that even if you don’t get flu symptoms, you still could pass the illness on to others. Pregnant women, young children, people with chronic health conditions such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease; and people 65 and older are especially at risk for complications from the flu.

The health department urges people to practice the 3 C’s — clean your hands, cover your cough and contain your germs by staying home when sick.

More flu information, including weekly surveillance reports updated every Friday, is available at kanehealth.com/flu.htm. More resources also are available at www.illinoispandemicflu.org, as well as at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Illinois Department of Public Health.