With the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention monitoring a strain of the swine flu, it's a good reminder of the importance of flu vaccines.

Kim Stanchfield, a registered nurse and the employee health nurse specialist at Rockingham Memorial Hospital, says the flu vaccine is still available.

This years vaccine includes the H3N2 virus, which is the strain being monitored by the CDC, as well as H1N1, the strain that was at the center of the 2009 outbreak.

"It can really prevent you from getting different strains of flu that are around," Stanchfield explained. "It helps your immunity to have a flu vaccine."

Stanchfield also reports that an easy and efficient way to prevent getting the flu is to wash your hands frequently.

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