Can You Get the Flu Twice in One Season?

Scientifc American ^ | February 4, 2018 | By Rachael Rettner, LiveScience on

[BenLurkin]

Experts say it is possible to catch the flu twice in one season. That's because there are multiple strains of flu viruses circulating at any one time, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. So getting sick with one strain of flu won't necessarily protect you from a different strain.

But the good news is that it's pretty rare to catch the flu twice in a single season. Having this happen would be "quite a stroke of bad luck," Schaffner told Live Science

Most people who get the flu this season are getting sick with the H3N2 strain. But a smaller portion of people (around 10 to 15 percent) are getting the H1N1 strain or the influenza B virus, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (H3N2 and H1N1 are both strains of influenza A.)

Seasonal flu shots contain three to four strains of flu virus, because there isn't much "cross protection" between strains, Schaffner said. It's possible that getting sick with one type of influenza A virus would offer some modest protection against another type of influenza A, but it probably wouldn't give you any protection against the influenza B virus, Schaffner said.

[LIConFem]

I did. Was flat on my back for two weeks. Felt better and went back to work. A week later, I found my self flat on my back once again -- for another two weeks.

The good news is, this was 18 years ago, and I haven't had so much as a cold since.

[C210N]

Oh I know, I'll just get a weekly flu shot. /sarc

[have not got the flu nor shot for upwards of 20 years now, and counting]

[Bonemaker]

“Can You Get the Flu Twice in One Season?”

Of course as long as it’s the government figuring out what strain to vaccinate against.

[outofsalt]

Even worse. As the flu weakens your body you become susceptible to bacterial pneumonia. If you have the flu and start feeling worse see your doctor.

[Gamecock]

Last year I had two patients come down with the flu twice.

[xrmusn]

Hope I am not being premature or being accused of ‘Early Crow’
BUT

I have NEVER - to my knowledg - taken a flu shot.
I say to my knowledge because only ‘Lord knows’ what the Navy was injecting me with in the late 50s/early 60s but I have never knowingly taken the shot.

I have never come down with the flu or a show stopping cold.

I dress for cooler weather when it is cold (Don’t wrap myself in 12 layers when knowing I will not be in cold for ‘long’ duration and don’t get ‘caught’ by the changes in midseason, will still wear same till season changes.

I often say ‘When this jacket comes off, it is officially spring’.. call the lulls when everyone wearing heavy jacket for a few days then go back to ‘spring/summer’ wear because temp when up for a few days - “Pneumonia Weather”

I do keep a ‘Bear’ coat in my truck plus few blankets in the off chance I do break down while on the road.

I don’t push or recommend my ‘method’ but when people tell me ‘I had the flu’, S/A me will inevitably say
“Took the flue shot huh?”, Roll my eyes and go on to the next ‘sucker’....

[ThanhPhero]

I used to get flu two or even three times in a season before I was educated do the link of respiratory viruses to the lack of vitamin -sunshine. I have worked mostly at night since 2006 and have been taking D3 supplements since then. I have had no flu or colds in that time

[American in Israel]

All I know ow from redneck medical observation 8s that getting a flu shot increases your chance of getting the flu. Why is pure speculation, but I suspect dumping a boatload of viruses directly into your blood stream must ay he’ll with your immune system.

Also from observations of all the anti vaxers saying on threads that they don’t get the vaccine and have not had the flu in 20 years and all the vaxers saying they do, it is an obvious statistical elephant in the room.

Last flu I got, I had a shot to protect me. I caught the flu two weeks after getting 5he shot. That was the last flu shot I took, in the late 80’s.

Your milage may vary.

[steve86]

Are you one of those people who is really smart on political things and really dumb on scientific things?

[Pearls Before Swine]

You can’t get the SAME flu strain twice in one season, not that that’s any consolation.

[orlop9]

I’ve been taking 4,000 I.u. a day for years, was directly exposed to the B strain back in November and flu of some sort again last month, but I haven’t had flu in years. Colds occasionally but no flu

[Yaelle]

When you are exposed to a flu, you have symptoms that get worse and then abate as you get better. But everyone has had the experience of jumping back into busy life too fast, and back down you go. It isn’t catching a virus twice. It’s the same virus, taking advantage of the lowered immunity as you stress yourself too soon.

[Yaelle]

Yes. All the viruses are out there, but coming down with them says more about your own immune system than the strength of the virus. Not having a blood level of vitamin D3 around 60 or higher is basically a cause of the flu. It’s certainly a cause of the worst cases. Vitamin sunshine. D3, is one of the key deficiencies that “makes” us sick.

[Hootowl99]

A person after experiencing a bout with a specific strain of flu is less likely to be reinfected by that same flu later because the body's immune system now is activated against that flu's signature and thus is able to much more rapidly and aggressively respond to this this secondary exposure.

The flip side of this though is that the body is weakened and is more susceptible to a secondary infection. Think about a virus caused flu followed by a bacterial pneumonia. Not good. There is a progression of sorts that can follow 1,2,3. Flu to pneumonia (lungs) to meningitis (via blood to brain/spine) or rheumatic fever (blood to heart).

[butlerweave]

My Father worked in the Shipping Dept and always had a Cold ,we started him on multivitamin a day and BINGO no more Colds

[Libloather]

Just heard it today - there’s the usual flu vaccine shot. Another ‘influenza’ shot can be taken at least 20 days later. Older folks know stuff.

[MD Expat in PA]

I sort of doubt you had the actual flu (influenza) two or even three times a season. That would be very unlikely even during a bad flu season when more than one strain is circulating like we are seeing now.

FWIW, a lot of people conflate colds with the flu. If you get a bad cold, granted, you will feel miserable for a couple of days, even bad enough to stay home from work and in bed or on the couch for a day or two, but with the flu, you will be flat out on your back for a week or more.

Some of the symptoms of the cold and the flu are the same - sneezing, stuffy nose, a sore throat, a headache often due to sinus congestion, feeling a bit tired, but with the flu also comes a high fever and severe body aches, splitting headaches and very bad chest congestion and a deep and sometimes either a phlegmy or a non-productive dry cough and sometimes but not always, also nausea and diarrhea and severe fatigue, fatigue such as it is struggle to get out of bed even to go to the bathroom.

And with a cold the symptoms come on gradually, you can start with a bit of a sore or scratchy throat and sniffles a full day or two before feeling really sick but with the flu, it hits you suddenly and like a ton of bricks. With the flu you can get out of bed feeling fine, except for perhaps being a bit tired and then within hours are laid up in bed feeling like you might die and will feel that way for several days or more.

In your case I also wouldn’t discount winter allergies.

I have them and when I get a bad winter attacks, and I sometimes get an attack two or three times a year starting in late fall through mid-winter, I feel like I’ve come down with the flu. It hits me hard and comes on suddenly. I sneeze uncontrollably, watery eyes that sometimes swell up, I get chills and hot flashes (although if I take my temperature, it is usually normal or just slightly above normal) but I also get body aches and my throat will sometimes get sore and I will cough but I think it is mostly because of the post nasal dripping, but still it puts me down and I’m not able to function.

But how I know it is not either a cold nor the flu is that 24 hours later, I feel perfectly fine. It goes as quickly as it comes on.

Perhaps the change in work habits and schedule, getting more fresh air from going outside more and the supplements have helped stave off allergy attacks rather than a virus.

Wintertime allergies have several sources, among them are leaf molds and tree spores, but also and more commonly, the mold and dust that can collect in the ducts of indoor heating systems and when you start running the heat indoors, it can give you an allergy attack.

[luckystarmom]

My daughter did 2 years ago in college, and she had the flu shot.

[This I Wonder32460]

Yes, I had the flu for a week in mid Oct. 2016, I had a flu shot mid/late Dec 2016 and then I had the flu again for a week in Jan. 2017. I was out of work for a week both times. I’m hoping the flu misses me this year. So far, okay from the end of 2017-now. I’ve just had an occasional migraine that floors me for a day or so here and there. I never know when a migraine is going to strike. Sometimes I think I just get overtired. Thank goodness for sick time.