NEW YORK - The flu vaccine is doing a better job this year.

Preliminary data suggest it is 59 percent effective. That's a big improvement from last winter's nasty flu season when the vaccine was less than 20 percent effective.

Unlike last year's vaccine, this year's is a good match to the strains making people sick.

It's been a milder flu season so far, though health officials said it has not yet peaked.

The numbers were presented Wednesday at a medical meeting in Atlanta.