MPH’s Schaffner comments on the influenza B strains causing a second wave of flu
The Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) weekly influenza report for the week ending Mar. 24 showed an overall decrease in cases of the flu around the U.S. Good news, but it comes with a catch: Though the number of folks with flu is decreasing in general, reports of influenza B viruses have overtaken reports of influenza A viruses. H3N2 is a strain of influenza A, so the influenza B strain showing up in patients across the country is a new beast altogether.
“The dominant strains every year are one of the A strains. They create the big epidemics, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University, told Healthline. “Now, behind the scenes as it were there are influenza B strains that are circulating at the same time. They cause illness that is just as severe, but the B strains, for biological reasons that we don’t understand, don’t create big epidemics, but they smolder along.”