While cases of flu are up across the state, officials at Vicksburg’s only hospital said they are seeing a normal number for the area.

River Region Medical Center spokesman Heather Butler said Adam Dyess, the hospital’s emergency room director, said the emergency room is beginning to see people with flu-like symptoms and some people have tested positive for the flu, but the number is not excessive for this time of year.

“There’s not a high volume,” Butler said.

A spokesman for the only other emergency clinic in the city, MEA Medical Clinic on East Clay Street, said she is not allowed to answer questions.

Reports from across the state have influenced state officials to renew their push for people to be vaccinated.

“We begin promoting flu vaccinations in October, but we always remind people to get their flu shots several times during the season,” Mississippi Department of Health spokesman Liz Sharlot said.

Assistant State Epidemiologist Paul Byers said the flu season begins in December and runs through March. The season’s peak usually is in January. He added the MSDH’s recent push for vaccinations also coincides with National Influenza Vaccination Week, this week.

He said the flu vaccine being dispensed this year provides protection against three strains of the disease: two strains of influenza A, and influenza B. The shots are available at the Warren County Health Department, 807 Monroe St., and at doctor’s offices and at area pharmacies.

The health department gives flu shots Monday through Friday from 8 until 10 a.m. and from 1 until 3:30 p.m. The charge is $25 for adults and $10 for children 18 and younger. Prices may vary at doctors’ offices and pharmacies.

Byers said people 6 months and older should be vaccinated for the flu.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reports of influenza-like illnesses in the eight-state Region 4 area, which includes Mississippi, are characterized as elevated, with about 19 percent of the people reporting symptoms testing positive for the flu.