--- title: Flu Season 2018 May Have a Second Wave, CDC Says description: Flu season 2018 may see a second wave, as influenza B viruses have overtaken influenza A viruses. It's not too late to get a flu shot. canonical: https://time.com/5216990/influenza-b-flu-season-2018/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-27T15:33:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:47:19.246Z article:section: Health og:title: A Second Wave Of Flu May Be On the Way, CDC Warns og:description: Even if you've already had the flu, you could get sick again og:url: https://time.com/5216990/influenza-b-flu-season-2018/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd60681427407eb2/69892c1486f68ea4e96e8b55/flu-shot.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Inside Perry Memorial Hospital As Senators Get Deal To Prop Up Obamacare og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Second Wave Of Flu May Be On the Way, CDC Warns twitter:description: Even if you've already had the flu, you could get sick again twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd60681427407eb2/69892c1486f68ea4e96e8b55/flu-shot.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Second Wave of Flu May Be On the Way, CDC Warns > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Mar 27, 2018 3:33 PM UTC  A nurse administers a flu shot. A nurse administers a flu shot.Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Mar 27, 2018 3:33 PM UTC Flu season [may have peaked in February](http://time.com/5183507/flu-season-peaked/), but we’re not out of the woods yet. The bulk of [this year’s deadly flu season](http://time.com/5108077/2018-flu-map/) was dominated by the H3N2 virus, an influenza A strain that is more severe and less receptive to vaccines than other types of the disease. As the season winds down, however, influenza B has overtaken influenza A, setting the scene for a possible second wave of flu, [according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/) (CDC) data. While flu activity nationwide has dropped to just above non-flu-season levels, influenza B viruses were reported more frequently than influenza A viruses during the week ending March 17, according to the CDC. Influenza B infections, which commonly strike later in the season, may be especially severe for young children, [a CDC spokesperson told CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/23/health/flu-surveillance-weekly-march-23-cdc/index.html). Even those who already got the flu this year may not be safe, since [it’s possible to get sick with both](http://www.health.com/cold-flu-sinus/can-you-get-flu-twice-in-one-season) influenza A and influenza B in a single season. The good news, however, is that influenza B viruses traditionally respond better to vaccines than influenza A viruses. By [CDC estimates](http://time.com/5160213/flu-shot-effectiveness-2018/), this year’s flu shot was 42% effective against influenza B, versus 25% effective against H3N2. And believe it or not, it’s still not too late to get a shot if you haven’t. The CDC [recommends vaccination](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/summary.htm) “as long as flu viruses are circulating” — and with 17 states still reporting widespread flu activity, that puts us squarely within that window. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5216990/influenza-b-flu-season-2018/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5216990/influenza-b-flu-season-2018/"},"headline":"A Second Wave of Flu May Be On the Way, CDC Warns","datePublished":"2018-03-27T15:33:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:47:19.246Z","description":"Even if you've already had the flu, you could get sick again","url":"https://time.com/5216990/influenza-b-flu-season-2018/","keywords":["Public Health","onetime","healthytime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd60681427407eb2/69892c1486f68ea4e96e8b55/flu-shot.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd60681427407eb2/69892c1486f68ea4e96e8b55/flu-shot.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Inside Perry Memorial Hospital As Senators Get Deal To Prop Up Obamacare","caption":"Inside Perry Memorial Hospital As Senators Get Deal To Prop Up Obamacare","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5216990/influenza-b-flu-season-2018/","name":"A Second Wave of Flu May Be On the Way, CDC Warns"}}]}] ```