Despite an early start to the season and several reports of deaths from influenza in North Carolina this year, the disease continues to spread among the local, state and national population, a clear sign that many people are not being vaccinated, health officials said this week.

The 2012-13 flu season is shaping up as one of the busiest in the past decade, including at Vidant Medical Center, which has treated the most cases since 2003, said Dr. Keith Ramsey, a professor of medicine at Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and medical director for infection control at Vidant.

Predicting the severity of a flu season is difficult, at best, he said.

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