MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – Flu season is picking up across the nation and in Wisconsin.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 24 states are experiencing wide-spread flu activity. Although Wisconsin is not one of those states, local medical experts say they are seeing people with different flu viruses.

Doctors say flu season usually starts in early December and lasts until February. Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin is taking precaution this year. Beginning Wednesday, children under the age of 12 will not be allowed to visit in-patient rooms.

Medical experts ask anyone with the flu to stay home until they get better. To prevent the spread of the flu, doctors say wash your hands.

“Hand hygiene is huge,” UWM Silver Springs Community Nursing Center director Jean Bell-Calvin, MS, RN said. “The hand washing, soap and water is the best. Hand sanitizers are also available.”

Bell-Calvin advises everyone to get the flu shot.