Jeanna Miller of Fort Wayne got her first flu shot in several years from Steve McDonald, pharmacy team leader at the Meijer on Lima Road on Friday, Dec. 8, 2017. Staff photo by Michelle Davies
Jeanna Miller of Fort Wayne got her first flu shot in several years from Steve McDonald, pharmacy team leader at the Meijer on Lima Road on Friday, Dec. 8, 2017. Staff photo by Michelle Davies
Jenna Miller hadn't gotten a flu shot in years.

Miller said she got sick after her first one – seven years ago – and that scared her away from the vaccine.

But Friday morning, Miller, 32, was at Meijer on Lima Road, waiting for the dose that she hopes protects her from influenza as health officials say the U.S. could be in for a tough flu season.

Mindi Wysong, lead pharmacy tech at the store, is Miller's mother and urged her to get the shot. But Miller had another reason to break her string of skipping flu shots.

“My kids went and got one on Tuesday, so I figured I should get one,” she said.

It is tough to predict the severity of flu seasons, but health professionals look to Australia, which now is ending its flu season, to get a sense of what to expect in the U.S.

In Australia, the government reported more than twice the number of confirmed cases of the flu.

It also reported an increase in the number of deaths, compared to 2016.

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