IF YOU'RE a middle-aged worker then you have the highest risk of catching the flu this year.

Pharmacist Adam Bosnjak said the more people you interact with each day, the higher your chances of getting ill.

"This group tends to travel and mingle more, generally mixing and meeting with a large number of people every day," Mr Bosnjak said.

Traditionally this time of year is the low season with data showing that the months of August and September are when the most influenza cases are reported in Gladstone.

But Mr Bosnjak said he had started to see cases of flu already in town.

According to Queensland Health, between January and March this year there were 85 lab-confirmed influenza cases in the Central Queensland Hospital and Health service, which includes Gladstone.

It is the most cases during the first three months of the year in the five years that Queensland Health has published statistics for.

Last year there were 56 cases, and in 2016 there were 40.

"Prevention is definitely much better than the cure so reduce your risk of infection with a flu vaccination," Mr Bosnjak said.

The flu shot covers the four prevalent flu types

most experienced in the recent northern hemisphere winter.

"They're generally the ones we'll be experiencing here during our winter so the experts have prepared the vaccine for countries in the southern hemisphere," he said.

Mr Bosnjak said he believed the more people who were vaccinated the better it was for the community.

"It's like herd immunity and it prevents people taking the virus home and infecting their young and old family members," he said.

It is the very young, the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions who may end up with severe flu complications such as pneumonia, or death.

"You're also more likely to get ill if you're burning the candle at both ends or feeling stressed or continuously tired," Mr Bosnjak said.

If you catch the flu, rest is the best cure, he said.

The stats

Lab-confirmed influenza cases in the Central Queensland Hospital and Health area:

2017: 2263

2016: 985

2015: 1237

2014: 712

2013: 140

From Jan 1 -March 4 2018: 85

Source: Queensland Health