Claire Hughes is reporting for the Times Union all signs are pointing to a potentially harsh flu season in New York this year. State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker announced December 13 that influenza is currently prevalent throughout New York, with 1,820 cases having been reported as of Dec. 9. That number represents a 46 percent increase from the previous week, and 113 percent from two weeks before that. Zucker's announcement triggered a requirement that unvaccinated health workers wear masks in areas where they are likely to encounter patients. The strain of the virus currently in heaviest circulation is known to hit hard and to evade efforts to ward it off. Experts also say there are signs that flu season could peak early, at least in other parts of the country. A second strain of the flu may gain traction as well. Flu symptoms include fever, chills, headache and muscle aches as well as a cough or sore throat. A true case of flu can be severe and last a week or two, sometimes causing complications like pneumonia. Thousands of Americans die of the virus each year. Health officials recommend being vaccinated, even though it has been less than effective against the strains of the flu now in circulation. "Even a vaccine that doesn't work terribly well ... it can decrease to some degree the chances that you will get the flu and that you will get a really serious flu," said Dr. Paul Sorum of Albany Medical Center Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Read the full story in the Times Union.