Flu Season’s Not Over Yet – New Strain Spreading Across California

This strain is particularly bad for kids

By Marilyn Nelson on March 20, 2018
(Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

It has been a particularly rough flu season in California, but if you thought it is finally over you’d be wrong.

“It’s often the case where influenza A starts off the flu season, and then as the season goes on, influenza B becomes more important,” Dr. Dean Blumberg, an expert in infectious diseases at UC Davis Health told The Sacramento Bee. “Influenza A caused almost all the influenza starting at the beginning of this season in 2017, and then once 2018 started, influenza B started causing a greater proportion of illnesses.”

This is particularly troublesome for pediatricians.  Children have been shown to be 20 percent more likely to die from influenza B than from influenza A.

Also, having one strain of the flu doesn’t protect you from other strains either, so don’t let your guard down yet.

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