Companies and pharmacies are already reminding people that it’s time to get a flu shot, and the push may be more warranted this year.

A particularly bad flu season was reported in Australia, which has served as a rough measuring stick for the flu season that follows in the Northern Hemisphere.

From Jan. 1 to Aug. 19, 2016, the Australian health department reported 37,266 total cases of influenza to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. This August alone, New South Wales reported 47,863 cases of the flu — more than 3.5 times the number of cases (13,602) the most populous Australian state reported in August of 2016, according to NSW Government Health.

“In general, we get in our season what the Southern Hemisphere got in the season immediately preceding us,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Flu season varies, but generally begins in the U.S. around October and runs through spring.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nasal spray flu vaccine (live attenuated influenza vaccine) should not be used for the 2017-18 season. The CDC recommends the flu shot (inactivated influenza vaccine) or the recombinant influenza vaccine.

In addition to getting a vaccination each year, the CDC recommends employing common sense: stay away from people who may be sick, cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing and wash hands frequently.