Sorry, You Might Get the Flu Twice This Year — Here’s Why (Jan 19, 2020) By Julie Ries - EcoWatch

Patient4Life

Patient4Life

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Sorry, You Might Get the Flu Twice This Year — Here’s Why (Jan 19, 2020) By Julia Ries - EcoWatch

  • Two flu strains are overlapping each other this flu season.
  • This means you can get sick twice from different flu strains.
  • While the flu vaccine isn't a perfect match, it's the best defense against the flu.
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To say this flu season has been abnormal is an understatement.

For one, the flu season got its earliest start in 16 years.

Up to 18 million people have gotten the flu this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) latest estimates. Up to 210,000 people have been hospitalized and thousands have died, including 39 children.

We're also seeing B strains of the flu dominate, something that hasn't happened in the United States in nearly 30 years.

And, unfortunately, the vaccine missed the mark with B/Victoria, the most common strain we're seeing this year. The CDC believes the shot only covers about 58 percent of B-linked cases.
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The 'poor' match usually applies to H3N2 strains. The vaccine for influenza B often still has reasonable efficacy (40%) even if it is not an exact match with the circulating strain, unlike the efficiency of the vaccine for unmatched H3N2 strains which can drop to 10% or lower.
 
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