Have you or someone you know – a family member, perhaps? – been hit by the apparent recent wave of cold and flu symptoms that have been observed in Gulf Breeze and the Pensacola Bay area?

Numerous local residents have complained lately of bronchitis, chest congestion, deep coughing, sinus infections, fever, and achy muscles and bones. Some report that symptoms are lasting up to two weeks in some instances.

Nagging coughs and sneezes punctuated the typically serene environments Sunday during services at area churches.

Sacred Heart Health System reported Tuesday that it is beginning to see an increase in flu at its hospitals in Northwest Florida. During the second week of January, 158 patients were tested for flu-like symptoms with 14 percent receiving positive results for influenza.

“Many patients are not officially tested for flu when they have flu-like symptoms,” said Donna Mayne, Microbiology Lab Manager at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. “That means the actual number of people suffering from the influenza virus could be much greater than our percentages indicate.”

The Santa Rosa County Health Department confirmed Tuesday that flu is on the increase and urged residents to take precautions to stay protected from the virus. Fifty percent of lab tests for flu are coming back positive for flu Type B, a seasonal flu. Despite being deep into January, Santa Rosa Health officials insist it is not too late to get a flu vaccine. The vaccine not only protects against regular seasonal flu, but also H1N1.

Dr. Joseph Howard practices family medicine in the Tiger Point area. He said Tuesday that it’s his observation that flu-like illness is only typically moderate for this time of year.

“I don’t think there is anything going around right now, but if a patient is experiencing headache along with body ache, cough, fever, and the flu is in the area, I would prescribe them Tamiflu and get them tested,” he said.

Jule Baltz, a Physician’s Assistant for Dr. William Zimmern in the Santa Rosa Shores area, acknowledged that patient traffic was up noticeably two weeks ago, but the frequency of cases has diminished this week.

Gulf Breeze school officials say there have been some student absences due to the cold and flu, but nothing out of the ordinary. Gulf Breeze Elementary reported that some students have displayed flu-like symptoms, strep throat and the stomach flu.

January and February typically are the worst flu months, but the flu season can also drag into March. Although colds and flu seem to be more common in cold weather, the colder temperatures are not the culprit in making people sick. Many experts believe the increase is due to people spending more time indoors with others during the winter months, which increases the chance of spreading viruses.

This year, most of the flu cases seen in the U.S. have been due to a Type A virus called H3N2. This particularly virulent virus has been known to trigger more pneumonia and other complications than other forms of influenza. The 2010/2011 seasonal flu vaccine does offer triple protection — against last year’s “swine flu” (Type A H1N1), the prevalent H3N2 strain, and the Type B flu that tends to be less severe.

There is still an ample supply of this year’s flu vaccine available, but because it takes about two weeks for the vaccine’s protection to take effect, those interested in being vaccinated should do so right away.

Influenza is caused by very contagious viruses that infect the nose, throat and lungs and cause symptoms such as fever, chills, dry cough, muscle aches, extreme fatigue, sore throat, headache and nasal congestion. A person can spread the flu as early as one day before he or she even feels sick, and can continue to pass the flu virus to others for five to seven days after symptoms start.

Influenza is thought to spread through coughing or sneezing.