Successful vaccine programs, good etiquette and perhaps a bit of luck have helped weaken the flu’s sting this season, though students remain its reliable victims, health officials say.

The total number of confirmed flu cases statewide is unknown because Maryland doesn’t require doctors to report it. But Dr. Jeffrey Roche of the state Center for Clinical Epidemiology said the virus is taking a mild toll.

“So far this year we’re at a very low level of cases compared to the last two seasons,” he said.

Maryland’s flu activity during the middle of February was less severe than 38 other states, according to data gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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An individual season’s severity largely depends on how different the virus is from previous seasons, said Dr. Diane Griffin, a microbiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. How closely the active virus resembles the vaccine, which contains a dead strain, also matters.

Because the flu travels through coughs and sneezes, Roche said covering your mouth with a tissue or napkin and washing your hands frequently can stop its spread. Coughing or sneezing straight into your hand is unadvised.

“We definitely have sick kids coming in,” said Tina Thorburn, the nursing supervisor at the University of Maryland College Park Health Center, which is treating several students for flu-like symptoms everyday.

College students aren’t as likely to get the vaccine unless they’ve had the flu before, she said. “Then they know what it’s like and they don’t want to get it again.”

Towson University’s health office saw 51 students in February exhibiting flu-like symptoms, compared with 80 last February, said Dr. Jane Halpern, director of health services.

Sometimes the virus peaks at Towson in February and sometimes in March, she said. “You never know.”

The same can be said for all of Maryland.

“Last year we peaked a little later than usual. We peaked in mid-March,” Roche said.

He said that it’s not too late to get a vaccine.

azieminski@baltimoreexaminer.com