Unfortunately, the following qualifies as old news for people in bed with fevers, headaches and little energy to do anything but surrender themselves to daytime television.

The flu is lurking.

Some schools and employers aren't reporting a flood of absences, but others are seeing a moderate increase in the flu and other respiratory illnesses over the past several days. Kris Carraway-Bowman, spokeswoman for Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, characterized the number of flu-stricken patients as a trickle compared to a scad.

Jean Borowsky, who works with health services for the Simi Valley Unified School District, said the flu first hit in mid-December and January, then quieted.

"Now in the last week and a half it seems to be back," she said Thursday. "It's not a huge deal, but we are seeing more."

And if you get it, forget about doing anything except grabbing the television remote.

"This is a pretty bad year," said Kerri Lauchner, director of health services at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks who over the past two weeks has seen a few students every day with body aches, congestion and, on occasion, stomachs that can't handle anything but soup. "The students are usually having to take two or three days off from classes because it's impacting them enough."

Some area businesses and hospitals say they haven't seen any increase in the flu. Dr. Robert Levin, Ventura County's public health officer, said the county is experiencing a fairly quiet season with relatively few influenza reports. Officials in Los Angeles County label the flu season as moderate but say they have seen an increase of cases over the past few weeks with 15 reported cases of children being treated in hospital intensive care units.

Levin said the discrepancy in cases between the two counties may be partly explained by the fact that only severe flu cases involving children must be reported to public health officials.

Flu-like symptoms don't necessarily mean the flu, with health officials noting February is prime season for various colds and respiratory illnesses.

But people with symptoms that are getting worse should see doctors, Levin said, noting medications can help if the flu is diagnosed within 48 hours.

It's also not too late to get a flu shot at a doctor's office or county clinics.

"We have a surfeit of the vaccine," Levin said. "We have tons of it."

Lauchner recommends the vaccine but also worries about reports that the vaccine doesn't match up with all the strains of flu being contracted.

"I'm still very glad I got the flu shot, but it's something I think about as I'm seeing students," she said. "It's not a guarantee."