No co-workers been out with influenza yet? You neither? Congratulations. But if you haven't yet, it's still a good idea to go get that shot.
If it feels like a mild flu season so far, that's only because last year's was harsh, and the year before that came the H1N1 pandemic.
"We're actually pretty much where we would expect to be this time of year, and of course it usually peaks in February," said Zack Moore, a medical epidemiologist with the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Via a network of emergency rooms and clinics around the state, the department tracks cases of illnesses that show the symptoms associated with flu, including congestion, fever, coughing, chills and sore throat. The state public heath lab also tests some cases to determine for sure whether they are flu.
DHHS saw a rise in flulike illnesses that peaked around New Year's Day, followed by a modest drop. Now, though, the numbers appear to be starting to rise again, Moore said.
Still, it feels like a mild season to some on the front lines.
"It does seem lighter this year, and we have certainly not had any cases that are confirmed," said Janice Frohman, administrative director of emergency services at WakeMed Health and Hospitals.
Patients have come into the emergency room with flulike symptoms, but often those are actually the result of some other sickness, she said.
Given that flu cases seem to rise as temperatures fall, it's tempting to speculate that the unusually mild winter so far has kept the virus at bay. But health care experts say the triggers for flu season are complex, and it would be hard to tease out any effects that weather might have.
If any aspect of the weather has been fighting the flu, Frohman said, it may be a simple one: less opportunity for transmitting the virus.
"It may be that people just aren't huddled together in buildings spreading germs among themselves as much because they're outside more," she said.
Among the good news, so far, is that nearly all the flu strains showing up around the country are well-matched to the vaccine that was formulated for strains that scientists expected this year.
Public health experts generally would like to see better rates of vaccination, Moore said. Data this fall showed that campaigns to get more health care workers inoculated were working, for example.
There's still time to get vaccinated and have the resulting resistance to the illness build before the peak of flu season. And there are plenty of cases after the peak, with some usually popping up into March and April, Moore said.
"Flu doesn't just come and go overnight," he said.
