LEWISTON – January is typically peak season for influenza in Maine.

So far, however, hospital and school officials in the Tri-County area say they haven’t seen nearly as many cases as they have in previous years.

“So far, so good,” said Amy Hart, the nurse for Leavitt Area High and Tripp Middle schools in Turner.

Hart estimated that 10 to 15 students had been out sick this week with flulike symptoms. But, she said, that is nothing compared to previous years when students were lined up at her door with high fevers.

School nurses throughout Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties shared similar observations.

“We haven’t seen an increase. Not yet, at least,” said Tracey Hansen, the health secretary for Oxford Hills Middle School.

Dr. Spence Bisbing, an emergency room doctor at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, agrees that influenza doesn’t seem to be striking the area as severely as in the past.

The Lewiston hospital treated about a dozen people with the flu during the past week, with at least one person requiring hospitalization, he said.

Those are low numbers compared to December 2003 when the emergency room staff was treating an average of four people per day.

“I’d say it’s mild, getting into a moderate amount,” Bisbing said.

A spokeswoman for Franklin Memorial Hospital said the situation is the same in that area. The number of people visiting the emergency room with influenza or flulike symptoms has remained stable throughout the winter, she said.

At Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, emergency room doctors reported the number of flu cases has been below normal for this time of year.

Doctors associated with Central Maine Pediatrics and Central Maine Family Practice have only confirmed two flu cases so far, a spokesman for the hospital added.