With flu season ramping up in Mississippi, one of the state’s leading health professionals is urging people to get their flu shots.
Dr. Jennifer Bryan, a physician with the Hattiesburg Clinic in Flowood and former chair of the Mississippi State Medical Association Board of Trustees, said flu season typically runs from October through May. While flu vaccines do not guarantee protection against the virus, Bryan said vaccination could mean the difference between life and death.
“Some protection is better than no protection, and the flu can definitely keep you out of work for a long time, it can put you in the hospital and, for a good many people, it is fatal,” Bryan said on Mary Wieden & You on SuperTalk Jackson. “So, getting your flu shot is always wise. No one is going to tell you that it’s always going to protect you from the flu, but you won’t die from it – and that’s a good outcome.”
Bryan, who recently created a program to govern artificial intelligence in healthcare settings, emphasized the threat the flu poses to people with preexisting health issues and how important it is to take the illness seriously.
“We don’t notice it because it’s not new and flashy. We hear about it every year. But certainly it’s still there and it is still quite dangerous, particularly for the elderly, infants, and anybody with immunocompromising conditions,” Bryan said. “That can be a 30-year-old with diabetes, that can be being pregnant, that can be a whole host of chronic conditions or certain medications so it’s important to talk to your doctor and find out if you fall into that category. … There are a lot of people out there who need to consider getting a flu shot.”
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Mississippi began seeing an earlier-than-usual rise in flu cases in 2026, Bryan noted, partly because hot weather drove people indoors to air-conditioned spaces where germs can spread more easily. Bryan said the earlier return to school has also contributed to the shift, a trend she expected to continue in future years.
“We are, generally speaking, seeing the flu a little earlier,” Bryan said. “Now [about the flu shot], I don’t have a formal recommendation on this, this is just coming from me, but I used to always be an October flu shot person, and now when people ask me towards the end of August and the first part of September [I tell them to] go on and get it. … I’m just saying, we are seeing it on the ground here earlier than I used to see it 10 or 15 years ago.”
Mississippians can get a flu shot at any local pharmacy, walk-in clinic, urgent care facility, or from their primary care doctor.
