Listen Live
St Jude banner
CLOSE
Doctor or nurse gives flu vaccine to patient at clinic.

Source: fstop123 / Getty

If you have already caught the flu this season and think that you are safe from a catching it again, you’re wrong! You can very possibly catch the flu twice in one season because there is a new strain out.

Hot tea, Capsules and pills and Digital medical thermometer. Medical concept

Source: mikroman6 / Getty

According to Fox.com, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says there are at least 13 million reported cases so far. Unfortunately, even if you’ve already gotten over the flu, there’s a chance you could get it again as another strain has started taking hold of the U.S.

While you can’t catch the same strain twice, you can catch one and then be sickened by the other later—one expert is referring to this flu season as “double-barrel season.”
Influenza viruses illustration

Source: KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty

Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist, adds, “This season has turned a lot of [what we know about flu] on its head. There’s a lot we know, and even more we don’t know about flu.” He adds that it’s rare that someone would be sickened by the flu twice in the same season.

 

You Might Catch the Flu Twice this Season!  was originally published on mycolumbusmagic.com