A: Yes. The flu shot covers 3 different strains, and you would NOT want to catch it again!
TL;DR: It’s hard to know which flu strain you got or which one will be dominant in the next few months. Go ahead and get that shot even if you had confirmed or suspected influenza.
The current flu vaccine is “trivalent” meaning it protects against three different flu viruses–two influenza A viruses and one influenza B viruses. So far this season over 96% of specimens tested by US public health laboratories have been one of the two strains of Influenza A, but among these it’s about evenly split with 55% H3N2 and around 45% H1N1. So while a recent infection should give you near term immunity against the specific strain you had, you still have a chance of getting a different strain, and both of these strains are circulating widely right now.
Flu levels are really high right now, but can easily persist through April. If you’ve been laid low by the flu recently you KNOW you don’t want to go through that again. Go ahead and get that shot! It’s safe to do so once you fully recovered from your illness.
Love,
Those Nerdy Girls
Links:
CDC – Weekly Flu Surveillence (archived link)
NOTE: This post was updated from the original written on November 16, 2023.
