(RALEIGH) -- Doctor's offices and urgent care centers across the Triangle are filling up with people battling all kinds of illnesses while they're home for the holidays.

Dr. Christopher Chao tells WTVD ABC11 the patients have been coming non-stop. This is not your normal flu season.

"Well this year is definitely worse compared to last year. It hit hard. It hit early."

Adding insult to injury -- a new strain of flu that is popping up in patients who have already received this year's flu vaccine. The state's count of flu-related deaths is already at 14.