Hospitals, long-term care facilities and others are stepping up their education programs as the virus could begin to travel through the area on the coughs, sneezes and hands of residents.
The basic precautions are standard: Cough or sneeze into an elbow; wash or sanitize hands regularly; stay at home while symptoms persist.
And get rest.
"Rest will fix a lot of things," said Debra Murbarger, the emergency services and convalescent care director at HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital in Effingham.
But it doesn't override some basic precautions.
"That's the most important — washing your hands," said Amy Schaal, quality and inpatient services manager at Fayette County Hospital and Long Term Care.
Hospitals are particularly concerned because their patients can be more vulnerable than the general population.
That's true at Good Shepherd, the former Shelby Memorial Hospital, where there are many elderly patients. That's a group at special risk for infection, said Kristi Curry, the hospital's director of infection prevention and employee health.
"The very young and the very old are more at risk," added St. Anthony's Murbarger.
A more drastic request comes from a recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Illinois Department of Public Health: Limiting visits to people in the hospital, and possibly not visiting at all. Staying at home is best for people suffering symptoms, the directive says.
Other guidelines depend on the hospital, including asking people under 18 and pregnant women to not visit.
Pregnant women are a special concern, said Curry, as the intensity of a flu infection can lead to complications for both mother and child. The goal is also to protect visitors, she said, as they have patients who are sick with the flu and could transmit it.
All hospitals are seeing a rise in cases, although there hasn't been an "outbreak" reported by the state.
Murbarger said that St. Anthony's has seen a few cases in its emergency room, but no one has been admitted to the hospital. Curry reported that Good Shepherd expects the number of cases to keep rising.
"We have not anywhere near peaked," Curry said, echoing the four-week prediction by the Epidemic Prediction Initiative for the region, which shows a general increase.
At the end of 2016, the percentage of intakes for flu-like symptoms crossed over the baseline for the first time this flu season. It follows a similar track to the sudden onset in the week of Jan. 23, 2016. That was the end of the last season, which Murbarger said was especially long, falling back below the baseline in the middle of April. The season generally ends in May.
Experts say it's been more common in recent years to see generally lower infection rates. It may be part of a natural cycle or a result of education and more people getting immunized.
"When a critical portion of a community is immunized against a contagious disease, most members of the community are protected against that disease because there is little opportunity for an outbreak. Even those who are not eligible for certain vaccines — such as infants, pregnant women, or immunocompromised individuals — get some protection because the spread of contagious disease is contained," according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
Curry and Murbarger suggest people who have not gotten their immunizations do so.
"Get it before they run out," Curry said.
The Centers for Medicare Services considers it a key part of preventative care and track it, with a goal of 100 percent vaccination for staff and patients.
The vaccine is a dead virus and it's not a risk for the patients, Murbarger said. Hospitals often require that all staff members get the injection, barring medical or religious reasons. Those who are not immunized are required to wear masks.
The Centers for Disease Control says states neighboring Illinois are seeing more cases. Missouri is listed as high, while Iowa and Kentucky are listed as moderate. Wisconsin and Indiana are both low. The states on the highest level are Kansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, South Carolina and New Jersey.
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