Photo courtesy WFAA
DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News) — If you’ve already had the flu this year you can’t let your guard down. You may get it again.
There are two different flu strains striking across the country, Type A and Type B. The first type is responsible for most illnesses so far this year, including more than 60 deaths in North Texas. But now Type B flu is hitting with increasing frequency, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth reports 104 confirmed cases of Type B flu this past week. That’s 44 more cases than the previous week. Symptoms for both types are the same but Type A is responsible for more deaths.
Pediatrician Justin Smith told the Morning News, “It’s not uncommon for us to see flu B follow flu A in the flu season but because flu B has seemed to come earlier this year, we have a lot more overlap.”
About 14 percent of positive flu tests in December were Type B in Tarrant County. Chief
Dallas County Health and Human Services spokeswoman Renae Crutchfield confirmed that conclusion and said there are twice as many of both types flu being reported now than at the same time last year.
The Centers for Disease Control explains there are actually four types of flu, A, B, C and D, but it’s A and B that cause most health problems. Type C can cause respiratory illness but isn’t as widespread. Type D is mostly found in cattle.
Health officials are still urging people who have not had a flu shot to get one. This year’s vaccine is expected to be more effective against Type B flu than in a typical year.
(Copyright 2018, WBAP/KLIF News. All rights reserved.)
