When it comes to public health, Pueblo County does it right. Not fancy, not quirky. Just right. And to do that, the county’s department of public health and environment says it’s prepared for a ‘never-late-to-the-party’ flu bug that it knows is coming. But it also knows that the heft of the coming virus is uncertain.
This season, Pueblo County Health and Environment Public Information Officer, Trysten Garcia says his agency is readying itself for the inevitable. “The current influenza vaccine covers two strains,” said Garcia. He identifies them as H1N1 and H3N2.
To gauge the severity of America’s flu season, doctors usually look to the south Pacific and, more specifically, Australia, for indications of what they can expect. Based on data from Australia’s Bureau of Statistics, the agency that tracks public health, it could be a rough flu season here.
The ABS says that early 2025 data show a spike from the previous flu season. “Coming into autumn, we’ve actually got increased levels of influenza activity in Australia, which sort of correlates with increased activity in the Northern Hemisphere as well,” said University of Melbourne’s Professor Patrick Reading. Patrick, who studies microbiology and Immunology and also works with the World Health Organization, (WHO) toldnews.com.au that both flu strains landed heavily through early 2025. “We’ve actually been tracking at increased numbers, thousands of increased numbers of lab-confirmed influenza,” he said.
Of the two strains identified, the H3N2 strain is more problematic, said the immunologist. “It’s the one that needs updating the most to keep up with the mutations that occur in the virus as it circulates around the world.”
But the two strains are not the only ones Australia, and the rest of the world are tracking. COVID-19 remains present as do RSV, norovirus and various strains of avian influenza.
Because there has been a number of stops and starts with vaccines from the Department of Health and Human Services—eligibility, costs, availability—Garcia says Pueblo’s health agency, is proceeding based on federal guidelines.
While the federal government has stumbled in providing clarity on vaccines, the state and the Governor have created guidance for the season’s immunization that go beyond the flu. “The Governor has created a public health order that allows anyone to get the COVID vaccine if they wish.”
Colorado has set-in-place guidelines for mandatory vaccines for students attending public schools and for young children in state licensed childcare facilities. Among the vaccines required in state public schools are MMR, DTap, Chicken pox, Hepatitis Band others. The full list is available at immunizecolorado.org.
But while it has set guidelines, the state also offers parents the right to opt out from immunization by following state rules, rules for medical or religious exemptions. Garcia says Pueblo County Health will follow the guidelines set by the state.
The state’s policy for opting out instructs parents “to submit a signed statement of personal or religious exemption annually.” Opting out for medical reasons mandates a similar explanation signed by a “licensed healthcare provider.”
“The priority for the Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment will always be to promote and protect the health of Pueblo County,” he said. “Vaccines are a safe and effective way to prevent serious illness during respiratory illness season.”
