x
Breaking News
More () »

VERIFY: Can you get the flu twice in one season?

11Alive's VERIFY team took the question to medical professionals to get an answer.
Cold medicine and sick woman drinking hot beverage to get well from flu, fever and virus. Dirty paper towels and tissues on table. Ill person wearing warm woolen stocking socks in winter.

In this very active flu season, the chances are high that you or someone you know will catch the virus.

Influenza cases have risen sharply across the nation and remains widespread in 49 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The severe flu season is on track to be as bad the 2014-15 outbreak that caused an estimated 56,000 deaths, federal health officials said.

In Georgia, there have been 51 confirmed flu-related deaths as of Feb. 2, according to the Georgia Department of Health.

FLU GUIDE | What you need to know about the 2018 flu season

MORE | Parents remember teen who died from flu complications

But what happens after you've already gotten over the flu? Can you get it again? 11Alive's VERIFY team took the question to medical professionals to get an answer.

QUESTION

Can you get the flu twice in one season?

ANSWER

Yes, you can.

EXPLANATION

11Alive asked our medical correspondent Dr. Sujatha Reddy, with Premier Care For Women. She said it all depends on the particular flu strain you contract.

"Once you've had one strain, you should not get that one again, so you do have antibodies to that one. Those antibodies might protect you from a similar strain," Reddy said.

WATCH | Get your flu questions answered

So that's the good news. The bad news?

"Unfortunately, once you've had the flu you can still get it again because you could get it from a different strain," she said.

According to Reddy, the flu vaccine protects you from either three or four strains of the flu. But there are always more than four strains floating around.

So, yes, you can get the flu twice in one season.

SOURCES

Dr. Sujatha Reddy, Premier Care For Women

Help VERIFY

Help our journalists VERIFY the news. Do you know someone else we should interview for this story? Did we miss anything in our reporting? Is there another story you'd like us to VERIFY? Click here.

Before You Leave, Check This Out