--- 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: 2026-10-12T09:04:16.641Z 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. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=c631f600-020e-44fb-8015-e35ac0c994cb&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Here's Why the Flu Is Especially Bad This Year [Watch (HLS stream): Here's Why the Flu Is Especially Bad This Year](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ityYoAe6.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2018-01-18. Here's Why the Flu Is Especially Bad This Year_  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Mar 27, 2018 3:33 PM UTC Here's Why the Flu Is Especially Bad This Year  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. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] ```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":"2026-10-12T09:04:16.641Z","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"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Here's Why the Flu Is Especially Bad This Year","description":"Here's Why the Flu Is Especially Bad This Year","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ityYoAe6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-01-18T18:34:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ityYoAe6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5216990/influenza-b-flu-season-2018/","duration":"PT1M49S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5216990/influenza-b-flu-season-2018/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```